Taxi or Private Hire vehicle licence

Introduction

We are responsible for licensing hackney carriages, more commonly known as ‘taxis’, and private hire vehicles, their drivers and private hire operators in Somerset.

Hackney carriages are vehicles with 8 or less seats that can be hired in the following ways:

By being ‘hailed’ for example, flagged down by a member of the public, whilst driving in the area they are licensed for.
From taxi ranks in the area they are licensed for.
Booked in advance for journeys that take place in or out of the area they are licensed for.

Private hire vehicles are vehicles with 8 or less seats that can only be hired by being booked in advance. Journeys can take place in or out of the area they are licensed for.

There are five licensing ‘zones’ in Somerset, which are named after each of the former district council areas they share boundaries with:

Sedgemoor
Mendip
South Somerset
Taunton Deane
West Somerset

You can apply to be granted a hackney carriage licence or private hire vehicle licence for one of these zones.

Each zone has different rules and requirements, so you must read the correct policy before you make an application:

All vehicles will need to have an MOT and pass our vehicle suitability inspection (VSI) before a licence can be granted. For full details, please read our Policy on hackney carriage and private hire vehicle testing and emergency equipment (PDF 333KB) and vehicle suitability inspection (VSI) manual (PDF 423KB).

All licences are issued for 12 months.

Application fees

The fee to apply for the grant of a licence is £126. The fee to renew a licence is £113.

Apply for a licence

You will need to complete the online application and use a payment card to pay the fee.

You will also be required to upload the following documents:

Insurance certificate
V5C Vehicle Registration document
MOT certificate
VSI certificate

Apply for a new vehicle licence, or renew an existing licence

The licence

If you are issued a licence, you will receive a plastic licence plate to display on your vehicle and a licence document which you must keep.

Transferring the vehicle licence

Once a person has been granted a vehicle licence, they are required by law to notify us within 14 days if they transfer their ‘interest’ in the vehicle to another person. For example, if they sell the vehicle and/or notify the DVLA of a new keeper.

Once we receive a transfer notification, we will update our records and issue a new licence document. The vehicle plate will not need to be re-issued.

Transfer a vehicle licence