Licence - hackney carriage (taxi)
This licence is required for any chauffeur-driven hire vehicle that will ply for hire, be flagged down or hired at a taxi rank. Once licensed, a taxi is always a taxi until the licence expires. These vehicles have a roof sign and display a white plate on the rear of the vehicle.
Before a vehicle is licensed it must pass an MOT and garage test to ensure its safety.
The proprietor of a hackney carriage must never allow more people to travel in a licensed vehicle than the number stated on the licence and on the licence plate affixed to the rear of the vehicle. No child below the age of 10 is allowed to travel in the front of a hackney carriage or more than one person above that age. The driver shall not allow any other person to travel in that vehicle without the consent of the hirer of a vehicle.
Animals must be in the custody or control of the hirer. The animal must travel in the rear of the vehicle.
Contact the Public Carriage Office for more information: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/pco/
