You must have a licence to use a vehicle as a hackney carriage taxi or for private hire. We provide a licence when we're satisfied a vehicle is safe and suitable for this purpose. This is set out in national legislation.
If you have an existing vehicle licence, visit our webpage to update your taxi licence details if you need to:
- provide a new MOT test certificate
- update your motor insurance details
- transfer a vehicle licence from a previous owner to yourself
Charges
A vehicle licence costs £164 and is valid for 12 months.
If you change your vehicle in this period we can't give you a refund on the licence fee.
How to apply
You can apply for a vehicle licence online. Only the owner of the vehicle can apply.
In the application you'll need to upload:
- proof of vehicle ownership if you're licensing a new vehicle. This can be either:
- V5C registration certificate (log book)
- hire purchase agreement
- receipt from the car dealership
- receipt from the previous owner, including their name, address and contact details
- old-style green 'new keeper' slip, only if this includes your name and address
- a valid certificate of insurance
- the vehicle MOT test certificate from one of our approved garages (see below). This will only be accepted within four weeks of the date of the certificate.
- a basic DBS check certificate, which must be dated within the last 12 months. (If you're already a licensed taxi driver with us you don't need to include this, as your driver DBS check covers this.)
New licences
We issue new vehicle licences for private hire only. This is due to a limit on the number of hackney carriages permitted in the borough. We don't currently have any licences available for new hackney carriages.
We issue new vehicles with a:
- 12-month licence; and
- six-month vehicle plate.
Vehicles issued with six-month plates
Before the six-month plate expires the vehicle needs to pass a MOT test at one of our approved testers. You'll then need to update your taxi licence details to send us a copy of the test certificate within seven days of the plate expiry date. When we receive this we'll issue the vehicle with another six-month plate that expires on the same date as the licence. This plate is free of charge.
When renewing the vehicle licence in future we'll issue both the licence and plate for 12 months.
Renewing a licence
To renew a licence you need to submit a valid application at least 21 days before the expiry date of the current licence. This is so you receive the new licence and plates before the current ones expire. We'll preserve the annual renewal date on the new licence and plates.
After receiving your new vehicle licence and plates you need to destroy the old ones.
Replacing a currently licensed vehicle
If you have a vehicle that's currently licensed and are replacing it, you can apply for a new licence by surrendering your existing licence.
You won't receive a refund on the licence fee for the currently licensed vehicle. Any time left on the existing licence won't be transferred to the replacement vehicle.
We'll issue the replacement vehicle with a 12-month licence and plate if:
- it's newer than the currently licensed vehicle; or
- it's an electric/hybrid vehicle.
The vehicle you are replacing must already have a a 12-month plate.
We'll issue all other replacement vehicles with a 12-month licence and six-month plate.
You'll need to destroy the licence and plates for your existing vehicle as soon as you've surrendered it's licence.
Vehicles issued with six-month plates
Before the six-month plate expires the vehicle needs to pass a MOT test at one of our approved testers. You'll then need to update your taxi licence details to send us a copy of the test certificate within seven days of the plate expiry date. When we receive this we'll issue the vehicle with another six-month plate that expires on the same date as the licence. This plate is free of charge.
When renewing the vehicle licence in future we'll issue both the licence and plate for 12 months
Accident replacement / courtesy vehicles
If you need to licence a car for use as an accident replacement or courtesy vehicle please contact us online.
All vehicles must meet the appropriate licence conditions for either hackney carriages or private hire vehicles. These are stated in our taxi and private hire licensing policy. In your application you'll need to confirm you've read these and the vehicle you're applying to license meets all of the conditions.
You must also comply with the Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Disabled Persons) Act 2022.
If your application's successful we'll email the licence and post the vehicle plates to you. You'll usually receive these within 15 working days. We'll email you if we need any more information to process your application.
If your application's not successful we'll email you to let you know the reason for our decision.
List of our approved garages
Approved garages that carry out MOT testing are below.
| Garage | Address | Phone number |
| ATS Euromaster Barnsley Centre | Huddersfield Road, Barnsley, S75 1AH | (01226) 281888 |
| Barnsley Commercial Sales Ltd | 137 Wakefield Road, Barnsley, S71 1ND | (01226) 391400 |
| Carlton MOT Centre | Unit 5, Wharncliffe Industrial Estate, Carlton Road, Barnsley, S71 3HX | (01226) 724700 |
| Cecil Penney Ltd | Sheffield Road Garage, Penistone, Sheffield, S36 6HF | (01226) 763102 (01226) 370346 |
| Central Garage | Brocklehurst Avenue, Kendray, Barnsley, S70 3AL | (01226) 281161 |
| DM Auto | Unit C1 Grove Park, Springvale Road, Grimethorpe, Barnsley, S72 7BF | (01226) 710245 |
| Dootson Motors Ltd | Barnsley Road, Cudworth, Barnsley, S72 8UU | (01226) 711152 |
| Hunningley MOT Centre | Hunningley Lane, Barnsley, S70 3DT | (01226) 296633 |
| G-Tech MOT Centre | Langdale Road, Barnsley, S71 1AQ | (01226) 733427 |
| Perrys Group Ltd | Claycliffe Road, Barugh Green, S75 1LR | (01226) 776100 |
| Ron Daley Motorcycles Ltd | Doncaster Road, Barnsley, S70 1TL | (01226) 203377 |
| Roys Autos | 55a Blacker Road, Mapplewell, Barnsley, S75 6GS | (01226) 387141 |
| Trend Motor Services Ltd | Rimmington Road, Wombwell, Barnsley, S73 8DQ | (01226) 340216 |
| Wyatt Auto Repairs | Unit 18/19 Mitchells Industrial Estate, Wombwell, Barnsley, S73 8HR | (01226) 752830 |
Daily safety checks for licensed vehicles
As part of the vehicle licence conditions the driver of a licensed vehicle must make sure it has a daily safety check.
As a minimum this must be a visual check of all lights, oil, water, tyres, mirrors and seat belts. The driver must make a written record of each safety check and give details of any faults and remedial action they've taken. They must sign the record and it must be kept in the vehicle for a minimum of 30 days. After this time the vehicle licence holder must keep the record for six months.
The driver of the vehicle must be able to show the recorded daily checks kept in the vehicle to us if we ask to see them. The licence holder must be able to show us all of the recorded checks they have for the vehicle for the past six months.
You can download and print your own copies of our daily check sheet. You can also buy these from us in a booklet on our order taxi licensing items webpage.