WhatsAppWhat are the latest rules for PCO cars in 2026?
Driving for apps like Uber and Bolt has become an increasingly popular form of employment for a lot of people. The benefits – such as being able to pick your hours, and not having a boss who micromanages your day – are enough to draw a lot of people to this form of work, but there are a few important regulatory areas to be aware of before you can get going.
The rules that govern both the driver and their vehicle are subject to ongoing change, and keeping up with those changes is essential if you want to ensure you remain compliant with those regulations. Below, we go through the latest rules for PCO cars in 2026, from PCO licenses to the kinds of insurance policies you’ll need to use.
PCO licenses
To work as a private hire driver in London in 2026, you need to have a Public Carriage Office (or PCO) license. These licenses enable you to work as a private hire driver, for pre-booked rides on apps like Uber and Bolt.
These licenses are issued and managed by Transport for London (TfL), and you’ll need to make sure that you’ve started your application process a long time before you actually want to start driving.
As a result of how many different parts of the application process there are, and the possibility for delays in each of these, people are commonly waiting over a year at the moment, and you don’t want to find yourself stuck in limbo without another form of employment.
License eligibility
In terms of eligibility, it isn’t so tricky to meet the basic criteria. You need to be at least 21 years old, have held a full DVLA, Northern Ireland or other EEA state license for at least three years, and have the legal right to work in the UK.
Then, you need to pass a DVLA Group 2 medical standards test – this includes checking things like a cardiovascular assessment to make sure you don’t have certain underlying conditions, and for disorders such as epilepsy.
Lastly, you need to pass an enhanced DBS check, an English test, the SERU test and a map and route planning assessment.
Private Hire Vehicles
As a driver, you will be operating a private hire vehicle (or PHV for short). There are a number of rules that dictate what an appropriate vehicle looks like.
Emissions
From 2023, all vehicles that are being licensed for the first time need to be zero-emission capable, and meet Euro 6 emission standards. Cars registered before that date may still be eligible, but may also need to pay Ulez depending on what Euro standard they meet.
At the moment, the standard that needs to be met in order not to pay Ulez is Euro 4 for petrol, and Euro 6 for diesel. Because the former normally applies to vehicles from before 2006, and the latter to vehicles before 2015, this isn’t something you’ll normally need to worry about.
Vehicle age
There is also a separate age limit that applies to PHVs. Specifically, they must be no older than 10 years at the time of license renewal. The specific date that counts here is the date at which it was first registered with the DVLA.
That being said, you’ll sometimes find that the main platforms you’ll be driving with, such as Uber, have their own specific vehicle age limits that apply to different categories, such as UberX and Uber Exec.
Vehicle safety
Part of the PHV licensing requirement is that your vehicle is in a safe condition to drive. Transport for London runs a series of checks on PHV vehicles that are both stricter than regular MOTs and need to be carried out more regularly.
There are strict bodywork rules, and a range of additional tests on things like safety partition screens and wheelchair access, if applicable.
Congestion charge
As you’ll likely know, the Congestion Charge applies to vehicles driving in central London from 7 am to 6 pm Monday through Friday, and from midday to 6 pm on Saturday and Sunday.
While for a long time, those driving electric vehicles were exempt from paying the charge, this exemption ended in January 2026. Pure EVs are now eligible for a 25% discount, but it does mean that there is less of an incentive to get an EV compared to before.
Insurance
To operate a PHV, you will also need to have an appropriate insurance policy in place. This typically means having a hire and reward insurance policy that allows you to drive passengers, and potentially a personal policy for when you’re not driving for work purposes.
Some popular private hire apps, like Uber, now require that you use one of their specialised providers, so that you can integrate the insurance policy into the app more easily.
Choosing an all-inclusive PCO car hire service
If you own your vehicle, or choose a more standard car hire service, then you have to take care of all of this paperwork yourself. If you choose a specialised PCO car hire service, however, a lot of it can be done for you.
While you’ll still obviously have to apply for your own personal PCO driver’s license, everything that needs to be done to make sure that the vehicle you’re driving is safe and has the proper paperwork can be done by the hire service.
This can even include issues like vehicle maintenance and repairs, which can significantly reduce the administrative and financial burden typically associated with vehicle ownership. It’s definitely worth using a company that provides a service like this, so that you can focus your own energy on actually working and driving.
Working as a private hire driver can be an excellent way to earn a living. While there are definitely a lot of different hoops that need to be jumped through before you’re ready to actually start driving, there are also a range of services that make it relatively simple and stress-free to get yourself totally ready.