Private hire vehicle licence

Private hire vehicles are pre-booked using a licensed private hire operator.

Unlike hackney carriages (taxis), private hire drivers cannot be hailed from the street and are not legally permitted to take passengers from a taxi rank.

If you want to drive a private hire vehicle, you will need:

• driver licence
• private hire vehicle licence

The person taking your bookings needs an operator licence.

To drive a private hire vehicle in Harlow, the driver licence, private hire vehicle licence and operator licence all need to be issued by us.

Private hire vehicle licence

To apply for a private hire vehicle licence, you need to contact us.

We will provide an application form, which you need to complete and return to us along with the fee of £298 and supporting documents.

For a private hire vehicle licence, the supporting documents you need are:

• a valid insurance certificate, which must include ‘on risk’ cover for private hire use
• a current MOT and compliance test certificate for the vehicle (at a cost of £50)
• the registration document showing the registered keeper’s name and address or proof of vehicle ownership

Once we have checked that your application and paperwork is correct, we will issue your vehicle licence.

Your private hire vehicle licence will be valid for one year from the date we granted it.

Once you have your licence, you will need to keep to the private hire vehicle licence conditions (pdf)

Renew your vehicle licence

To renew your private hire vehicle licence, you need to contact us.

We will provide an application form, which you need to complete and return to us along with the fee of £298 and supporting documents.

To renew your licence, the supporting documents you need are:

• proof of motor insurance
• an MOT and compliance certificate