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Taxi and private hire vehicle registration

Taxi and private hire vehicle registration

Private Hire Vehicles must not be more than five-years-old at the time of issue of a licence and will not be licensed after the vehicle becomes 12-years-old.

Hackney Carriages must not be more than five-years-old at time of issue and will not be licensed after the vehicle becomes 12-years-old. Hackney Carriages must also be Wheelchair Accessible.

Download a list of approved wheelchair accessible vehicles

Vehicles must be of suitable type, size, and design for use to carry out the business of transporting passengers in a safe and comfortable manner acceptable to the Council.

Vehicles must be right hand drive, able to comfortably accommodate a minimum of four passengers and a maximum of eight passengers.

All Vehicles must be insured for Hackney Carriage/Private Hire use (ie: for Hire and Reward) for each authorised licensed driver. A copy of the insurance certificate is required by the Licensing Department.

All vehicles must be mechanically inspected twice per year. One is your annual MOT, the other is an inspection by the council's Work Services Unit (WSU). To book an appointment for your WSU test, call (01788) 533334. The test fee is £50, which must be paid in advance at the Town Hall or by calling (01788) 533533.  We'll send a receipt for your payment to the WSU before the test.

You must supply copies of both tests to our licensing team. Ideally, your MOT and WSU tests must take place six months apart. The proprietor has responsibility to establish this test pattern.

The Annual Vehicle fee at present is £190. Renewal invites are sent out approximately one month in advance of the expiry of the licence.

Should the licence expire by more than seven days the licence cannot be renewed and you would have to apply for a new licence.

Prior to purchasing a vehicle, it would be wise to contact officers for advice on telephone number (01788) 533884 or e-mail licensing@rugby.gov.uk 

There is also an MPV policy within the main licensing policy.

MPVs and minibuses

Certain larger vehicles with three rows of seats are classed as Multi-Purpose Vehicles (MPVs) under the council's taxi licensing policy.

The council will only licence MPVs if they comply with the requirements of this policy. The main requirements are:

  • all the seats are adult seats
  • there is adequate luggage space
  • it is relatively easy to access the third row of seats

The council will licence MPVs which have previously been assessed as compliant.

If a vehicle proprietor wants to apply for a licence for a MPV which is not on the list, details have to be provided to licensing officers for assessment.

If officers have concerns about whether the vehicle complies with the policy, the vehicle would have to be considered by councillors on the licensing and safety committee. Councillors would need to inspect the vehicle at the meeting.

Referral to the licensing and safety committee or licensing sub-committee would only be done if an application was made to the council for a private hire vehicle proprietor licence and the fee paid.

A MPV can also be licensed as a Hackney carriage if:

1) the Hackney licence does not require a wheelchair accessible vehicle, OR

2) the MPV is wheelchair accessible.

In both cases, the vehicle must still be compliant with the other licence conditions.

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