Private Hire Vehicle Licence

Private Hire vehicles are licensed by us to make sure they are suitable and safe to travel in.

Private hire vehicles may not:

  • stand on a rank
  • be flagged down in the street

A private hire vehicle can only accept pre-booked calls.

Vehicles must be of a certain standard before and whilst licensed. At 12 months of age, they must have an MOT certificate. All vehicles under 5 years old must pass an inspection every six months. Vehicles over 5 years old are inspected every four months.

Like taxis, vehicles used for private hire must be clean, comfortable and carry safety equipment such as a fire extinguisher, first aid kit and a spare wheel.

We publish a Public Register of licences.

Carlisle City Council sets the licence fees for licences, permits and registrations to cover administration, inspection and enforcement costs. The following table shows the cost of issuing Private Hire Vehicle Licences.

Private Hire Vehicles Charges (£)
To issue a new licence 172.00
To renew a licence 141.00
Test Fee* 43.00
Re-test Fee* 35.00
Private Hire Plate Deposit 25.00
Certificate of Compliance 8.00
Transfer of Licence 20.00
Vehicle Change 20.00
Duplicate Items 10.00
New Licence Plate 12.00

* Subject to increases in test fees from Resource Planning being passed on.


Downloadable Documents

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Microsoft Word formatApplication Form for Private Hire Vehicle licence in Word format100 Kb14 secs @ 56k, 0 secs @ 2mb

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Contact us

 01228 817000

Carlisle City Council
Civic Centre, Carlisle, Cumbria,
CA3 8QG