Taxi and minicab licences

Licence name
Taxi and minicab licences
How to apply

First driver's licence applications

If you’ve been living in the UK for less than 5 consecutive years at the time of application for a new licence, you’ll also need to obtain a Certificate of Good Conduct from the Embassy or High Commission in the country or countries you lived in. This document must be a certified translation if the original Embassy Certificate is not in English. The document must also be under 3 months old from its date of issue.

A Certificate of Good Conduct is an extract from the judicial record or an equivalent document issued by a competent judicial or administrative authority in the relevant country.

Asylum seekers who hold a Home Office issued application registration document together with a positive verification letter from the Home Office Employer Checking Service stating that the named individual is permitted to work in the UK, are exempt from the requirement to submit a Certificate of Good Conduct.

You'll also need to be aware of the content of His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) guidance relating to tax registration obligations. Read HMRC's tax registration guidance

Convictions

If you have any convictions, you'll need to let us know about them in your application. Please read our document about the relevance of convictions before starting your application. If you have any questions, get in touch using the contact details on this page. View our relevance of convictions document

Apply for your first Hackney Carriage or Private Hire driver's licence

To apply for your first Hackney Carriage or Private Hire driver's licence:

  1. Complete the online form below and make your payment online. How much your application will cost.
  2. We'll process your application and arrange an interview for you. You'll need to bring in your original documents to complete the relevant security checks. This usually takes around 20 minutes.
  3. If your application is approved, we'll arrange a Coaching and Knowledge Test.
  4. If your application is refused, we'll refund your payment and let you know the reasons why and what your options are. Refunds may be subject to a £10 administrative fee.

Apply for your first Hackney Carriage or Private Hire driver's licence

Renew your driver's licence

Please don't delay applying to renew your licence. We recommend you apply 6 weeks before your current licence is due to expire.

You'll also need to be aware of the content of His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) guidance relating to tax registration obligations. Read HMRC's tax registration guidance

Medical information

If you need to submit a new medical with your application and can't get an appointment with your GP, you can temporarily choose to get your medical from a third-party provider instead of your GP. These companies charge a fee for this service. The third party must be registered with the General Medical Council (GMC). The provider will need:

  • A summary of your medical records – you need to get from your GP.
  • A medical declaration form to complete – you can find it on this page.
  • A D4 medical form to take to your appointment – download a D4 medical form

Apply to renew your Private Hire, Hackney Carriage or combined driver's licence

To apply to renew your Private Hire, Hackney Carriage or combined driver's licence:

  1. Complete the online application form and make your payment online. How much your application will cost.
  2. We'll process your application. If your application is successful, we'll renew your licence and email you to let you know your licence is ready for collection and when you can collect it. We aim to do this within 5 working days.
  3. If your application is refused, we'll refund your payment and let you know the reasons why and what your options are. Refunds may be subject to a £10 administrative fee.

Renew your Private Hire, Hackney Carriage or combined driver's licence

Apply for or renew your vehicle licence

Please don't delay applying to renew your licence. We recommend you apply 6 weeks before your current licence is due to expire.

To apply for your first vehicle licence or to renew your vehicle licence:

  1. Complete the form for either Private Hire applications or Hackney Carriage applications and make your payment online. How much your application will cost.
  2. If your application is successful, we'll contact you to arrange a time to test your vehicle. We aim to do this within 5 working days.
  3. If your application is refused, we'll refund your payment and let you know the reasons why and what your options are. Refunds may be subject to a £10 administrative fee.
  4. If you fail to attend your vehicle test, it will result in extra fees. It could also result in a long delay for another appointment due to the number of vehicles we're currently testing.
  5. If your licence is granted, you can collect it from the office during our opening hours.

Private Hire vehicle licence applications and renewals

Hackney Carriage vehicle licence applications and renewals

Change a vehicle licence to a new vehicle

To change a Private Hire vehicle licence to a new vehicle:

  1. Complete the online form for either a Hackney Carriage or Private Hire licence and make your payment online. How much your application will cost
  2. We'll process your application. If you're application is successful, we'll ring you to arrange an appointment for a vehicle test. We aim to do this within 5 working days. 
  3. If your application is refused, we'll refund your payment and let you know the reasons why and what your options are. Refunds may be subject to a £10 administrative fee.
  4. If you fail to attend your vehicle test, it will result in extra fees. It could also result in a long delay for another appointment due to the number of vehicles we're currently testing.
  5. If your new vehicle passes the test, send a copy of the pass sheet to us by emailing lic.applications@rochdale.gov.uk. Then we'll issue a new vehicle licence to you.
  6. If your new vehicle fails the test, the test centre will tell you the reasons why and we cannot licence your new vehicle. You can write to us to request a refund or you can appeal the decision by writing to Magistrates Court.

Private Hire vehicle licence change form

Hackney Carriage vehicle change form

Change the owner of a licensed vehicle

To change the owner of a licensed Hackney Carriage or Private Hire vehicle:

  1. The licence must have at least 3 months left before it expires.
  2. Complete the change of ownership form and make your payment online. How much your application will cost.
  3. If your application is successful, we'll process your change once we recieve the relinquish interest form from the previous vehicle owner.
  4. If your application is refused, we'll refund your payment and let you know the reasons why and what your options are. Refunds may be subject to a £10 administrative fee.
  5. We'll update the details for the vehicle licence and send you the updated documents within 5 working days.

Change the owner of a licensed vehicle

Relinquish interest in a Private Hire or Hackney Carriage vehicle

Private Hire business operator licence

Please don't delay applying to renew your licence. We recommend you apply 6 weeks before your current licence is due to expire.

  1. You must obtain the necessary planning permission for your premises​ before applying for a Private Hire operator licence.
  2. Complete the online form and make your payment online. How much your application will cost
  3. If your application is successful, you'll be required to attend an interview at Number One Riverside. You'll need to bring a template of the vehicle door signs you plan to use to the interview.
  4. If your application is refused, we'll refund your payment and let you know the reasons why and what your options are. Refunds may be subject to a £10 administrative fee.

Apply for a Private Hire business operator's licence

Supporting documents

Forms and documents to support your application

Conditions to meet

Approved vehicle standards

The public must be safe and comfortable while travelling in a licensed vehicle. Therefore, we'll only approve applications for vehicles that meet our approved standards.

You can read our approved standards for private hire vehicles and Hackney Carriages through the link below.

Additional information

Important information: government tax check on licence applications

On 4 April 2022 the government introduced mandatory tax checks through the Finance Act 2021 to confirm the applicant is appropriately registered for tax.

These new rules differ depending on whether the licence applicant is new or already licensed.

Applicants and licence holders are advised to make contact with HMRC or your accountant should you require any specialist advice around your tax obligations.

Existing licence holder or renewing licence: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has introduced a new tax check that must be completed when any hackney carriage driver, private hire driver and or private hire operator (whether it be an individual licence holder, partnership or a company) renew their licences to drive taxis and private hire vehicles and operate a private hire business in England and Wales.

If a tax check is not completed, the licensing authority is unable to consider your application to renew your licence and your current licence will expire. This is a requirement from HMRC. 

From 4 April 2022, if a currently licensed driver or private hire operator renews a licence or decides to apply for a licence with a different licensing authority, they'll have to do a tax check. They'll be able to do this online through the digital service. A tax check will be required on each and every occasion a renewal licence application is submitted.

Existing licence holders are encouraged to submit their renewal licence applications at least 8 weeks in advance. This is so the licensing authority can process your application, along with our new legal mandatory responsibility of making tax checks, to ensure your renewal licence is issued before the expiry of your current licence.

New applicants: from 4 April 2022, if a hackney carriage or private hire driver applicant or a private hire operator applicant is applying for a licence for the first time, they will not need to complete the tax check. However, licensing authorities will ask applicants to read HMRC guidance on what they need to do to be properly registered for tax in the future so they can renew any licence and the driver will need to confirm they have done this.

Get ready for your tax checks: HMRC has introduced an online digital tax check service for drivers and operators to undertake a tax check. HMRC wants people to prepare as early as possible by making sure they're registered to pay the appropriate taxes on their licensed income and to continue to be licensed at the point of renewing your licence. 

If you’ve not registered to pay tax on earnings from your licensed trade, you should go to GOV.UK to check if you need to register as soon as possible.

You'll be able to complete this tax check on GOV.UK, through your Government Gateway account. You'll only need to answer a few questions to tell HMRC how you pay any tax that may be due on income you earn from your licensed trade. Sign in or register for a Government Gateway account 

When you’ve completed the tax check, which only takes a few minutes, you’ll get a 9 digit code. You must give this code to the licensing authority. We cannot proceed with your licence application until the tax check is completed and we have received the code. The 9 digit code is only valid for 120 days. If the expiry date of the code has expired, you'll have to get another code.

The licensing authority will only receive confirmation from HMRC that you’ve completed the tax check; we will not have access to your tax account. The check will not include any calculations, it is simply to confirm that someone is appropriately registered for tax.

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks: check the DBS website for guidance about fees and how to apply

Further information:

Contact us

Please help us to better manage demand by reading the information on this page to answer your questions.

  1. If you still can't find what you're looking for, please email us your enquiry using the details in the link below.
  2. Only contact us about an application after you've waited at least 7 working days from the date you emailed it to us.
  3. We aim to respond to all enquiries within 5 working days but it may sometimes take us longer.

Contact the team