Taxi Licensing information for passengers and the general public - Print version

Public and passengers

Hackney Carriages can be flagged down and stopped by waving at them in the streets if their "for hire" light is on. Hackney Carriages can also be found at the various taxi ranks in Coventry. If you telephone a Private Hire Operator for a taxi then unless you specify whether you require a specific vehicle then either a hackney carriage (London estate or people carrier) may arrive.

Coventry City Council provides taxi ranks and taxi feeder lanes in Coventry. These can only be used by Coventry licensed Hackney Carriage Vehicles.

Please note: Please be aware that virtually all drivers are self-employed and if they use a Private Hire Operator or Hackney Carriage call centre for receiving bookings then this does not mean that they are employed by the operator or call centre.

Hackney Carriage Vehicles

It is mandatory for Hackney Carriages to use a meter when a journey is within Coventry and cannot charge more than the meter indicates at the journey's destination.

This meter works on both distance and time. Therefore if there is slow-moving traffic the price may be higher than if the traffic is light. If the journey is going outside the boundaries of Coventry then the driver can refuse to take the customer or agree a price with the customer, however this amount has to be agreed before the journey commences (in this instance it is not mandatory to use the meter).

Private Hire Vehicles

Saloons, estates or people carriers are examples of private hire vehicles. There is no mandatory requirement for these vehicles to carry and use a meter whether the journey is inside or outside the city boundaries. However, some Private Hire Vehicles do carry a meter for the customer's benefit. The price of the journey is agreed between the driver and the passenger, however this must be agreed before the journey starts.

Private Hire Operators

Private Hire Operators (PHOs) are companies who despatch private hire vehicles for pre-booked journeys. Some Private Hire Operators may also despatch hackney carriage vehicles which may or may not be licensed by Coventry City Council. Depending on which vehicle you prefer please ensure at the time of booking that this is specified.

Taxi Licensing Policy Document 2022-2027 [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/39282/taxi-licensing-policy-document-2022-2027]

Details on the public registers [https://idoxpa.coventry.gov.uk].

Complaints procedure for members of the public

The Licensing and Regulatory Committee [https://edemocracy.coventry.gov.uk/mgCommitteeDetails.aspx?ID=146] has the powers to refuse, revoke or suspend an applicant's or driver's licence.

The Taxi Licensing Office operates under Licensing Law and has certain delegated powers from the Committee and can investigate complaints by passengers concerning drivers after receiving a completed complaints form. The complaints form should have as much information as possible (as it may be submitted in evidence before a court) and returned to the Taxi Licensing Office. Officers will then contact the vehicle driver and ask them for their explanation. Dependant on this and any previous complaint history, officers will then decide on the action to take (e.g. none, advice, verbal warning, written warning, caution, referral to the Committee or prosecution,).

We license over 1,000 drivers and over 900 vehicles (including a maximum of 859 Hackney Carriages) therefore identification of the driver and vehicle is important. When working the driver must have their badge (which includes their name, photograph and number) visible. Our licensed vehicles have a yellow plate on the rear with black writing showing the plate number displayed. Other authorities' plate colourings are likely to be different.

How to make a complaint

Our Taxi Licensing Office does not have the powers to enforce:

• Parking Infringements (e.g. parking on double yellow lines or double parking). For parking infringements contact our Parking Enforcement [http://www.coventry.gov.uk/info/117/parking/279/parking_enforcement] Services Unit
• Obstruction (e.g. causing obstruction on the public highway including parking too near road junctions). For obstruction infringements contact West Midlands Police [http://www.west-midlands.police.uk/]
• Traffic offences (e.g. using hand-held mobile phone while driving, road rage, careless or dangerous driving). For traffic offences contact West Midlands Police [http://www.west-midlands.police.uk/]
• Criminal offences (e.g. assault, threats, harassment, theft of mobile phone, indecency). For criminal offences contact the West Midlands Police [http://www.west-midlands.police.uk/]
• Litter dropped by licensed vehicles - contact our Environmental Crime [/info/121/streets_roads_and_pavements/420/litter] Team
• Running a vehicle engine and sounding a vehicle horn when stationary can be offences. These offences are infringements under Regulations 98 & 99 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986. For infringements of these regulations contact West Midlands Police [http://www.west-midlands.police.uk/]
• Vehicles licensed by another local authority (e.g. Nuneaton & Bedworth [http://www.nuneatonandbedworth.gov.uk/], Warwick [http://www.warwickdc.gov.uk/WDC/Business+and+jobs/Licensing/], Rugby [https://www.rugby.gov.uk/] or Solihull [http://www.solihull.gov.uk/]). Contact the relevant local authority which has licensed these vehicles

Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Vehicles

Private Hire and Hackney Carriage vehicles are allowed to pick up and drop off passengers where there are parking restrictions e.g. red or yellow double lines.

Hackney Carriage fares

These fares are reviewed after consultation with the Coventry Taxi Association and any proposed changes have to be agreed by Coventry City Council.

Any proposed changes are advertised in the local media and objections are heard at a further meeting of the Council and a decision made. Changes are not necessarily made on an annual basis and therefore the hackney carriage fares and guide to hackney carriage fares may be dated from a previous year.

• Hackney Carriage fares [/downloads/download/433/fare_chart_hackney_carriage_2008_no_mile_for_2009]
• Guide to Hackney Carriage fares [/downloads/download/433/fare_chart_hackney_carriage_2008_no_mile_for_2009] ;in Coventry

Disabled passengers

ALL Hackney carriage vehicles licensed in Coventry have access for wheelchairs. They have a ramp or set of parallel ramps to enable access for wheelchairs into the vehicle. The rear seats are required to be lifted to allow the wheelchair to be turned through an angle of 90 degrees with the passenger facing the rear of the vehicle and the wheelchair with its back against the plexiglass partition. The wheelchair must be shackled to the bulkhead using the two restraining straps and the seatbelt extension belt should then be used for the passenger.

Please note: The new London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC) TX black cab hybrid electric vehicle has the wheelchair facing the front of the vehicle

London Taxi Company & LEVC Hackney Carriages have a swivel seat to enable a passenger to sit from outside the vehicle and then swivel into the vehicle to gain easier access. These vehicles also have a step which can be fitted for passengers to more easily gain access to the vehicle.

If it is not possible for a wheelchair to be carried safely in a hackney carriage then specialist companies such as Ring and Ride [http://www.ringandride.org/] (now called Accessible Transport Group Ltd who operate in the West Midlands) and Route Forward (who operate in the City of Coventry) have vehicles equipped to safely carry the very large wheelchairs currently manufactured.

Please note: Passengers in wheelchairs must not be carried sideways in Hackney Carriage Vehicles. 

Designated vehicle list (under s.165 Equality Act 2010)

All hackney carriage vehicles licensed by Coventry City Council (London style black cabs in Coventry) are Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles (WAVs) and all Coventry's fleet of hackney carriages are able to carry the Department of Transport (DFT) designated "reference wheelchair" (a set of dimensions which the DFT have published on their website).  

The vehicles licensed by Coventry City Council and able to accommodate the "reference wheelchair" are; 

• London Taxi Company (LTCs); TX4 and TX
• Mercedes-Benz/one80; Vito 111, 113, 114 CDI Taxi or Vito M8 Taxi (this vehicle must have the additional rear wheel steering to meet the 25ft turning circle requirement) 

These hackney carriage vehicles may just work from the hackney carriage vehicle ranks or pick up hails from the street and therefore not rent radios from Coventry's licensed Private Hire Operators (PHOs).  Some of the vehicles will rent radios from Coventry's licensed PHOs [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/hackney-carriage-ie-taxi-private-hire-licensing/taxi-licensing-information-passengers-general-public].  

See all of Coventry City Council's Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/33968/wheelchair_accessible_vehicles_and_operator](WAVs).

All of these vehicles can accomodate the “reference wheelchair” which is defined as 700mm in width, 1200mm in length, and 1350mm in height.  A diagram of the “reference wheelchair” can be found on page 97 of the Department for Transport's 2022 Reference Wheelchair Standard and Transport Design research report.  It must be noted that if the wheelchair has any additional features,  e.g. extension pieces for legs, then the wheelchair may not be able to be turned through ninety degrees due to the floor where it is raised to accomodate the rear wheels.  

N.B. The hackney carriage meter must not be started by the driver until the passenger in a wheelchair is safely and correctly secured in the vehicle. The hackney carriage meter must be stopped before unsecuring the passenger at the end of the journey.

Medical exemptions for drivers

The Driver may have a Medical Exemption for taking a disabled passenger and/or an Assistance Dog under the Equality Act 2010.  If the driver has this the vehicle will display a Notice of Exemption in the front window with a photograph of the driver, a wheelchair with a diagonal line through it (if the driver is exempt from taking a disabled passenger) and at the bottom a photograph of a dog with an 'X' next to it with "No Dogs" (if the driver is exempt from taking assistance dogs).  

Loading of wheelchair into a hackney carriage vehicle

The following video shows a manual wheelchair being correctly and safely loaded and secured in a hackney carriage vehicle;

The following video shows an electric powered wheelchair being correctly and safely loaded and secured in a hackney carriage vehicle;

View the LEVC TX electric hybrid instructions [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ3xRIwgHqM].

Hackney Carriage Vehicle Owner's Handbooks and Brochures are available below to download. The Owner's Handbooks in particular show how to correctly secure a wheelchair;

• TX4 Owners Handbook [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/download/2171/owners_handbook_tx4]
• TX4 Euro 5 Brochure [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/download/2173/london_taxi_tx4_euro_5_brochure]
• Mercedes Vito Owners Handbook [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/download/2172/owners_handbook_mercedes_vito]

Since 2004 all new applicant drivers have been required to pass a one day training course (addressing customer service, disability issues and licensing issues) at the Taxi Licensing Office held in conjunction with Accessible Transport Group Limited (ATG Ltd - formally West Midlands Special Needs Transport) who operate the Ring and Ride Service. Since 2001 all new applicant hackney carriage drivers have been required to successfully pass Coventry City Council's wheelchair assessment before being licensed.

Taxi licensing legislation

There are two main Acts, which cover Hackney Carriage and Private Hire:

• Town Police Clauses Act 1847 [https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/10-11/89]
• Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 [https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1976/57]

The Central Library in Coventry [/centrallibrary] also holds a copy of the Town Police Clauses Act 1847 together with Coventry City Council's by-laws, which gives additions to this Act.