WhatsAppWhat is a PCO licence?
Londoners still often use the old shorthand: “PCO licence.” The Public Carriage Office (or PCO for short) name has gone, but the label stuck – the official term today is the Private Hire Driver Licence, issued by Transport for London (TfL).
If you want to drive for a minicab firm, a chauffeur company, or an app-based operator such as Uber, Bolt or FREE NOW on their private-hire (PHV) jobs within Greater London, this is the credential you need. It is not the same as a black-cab badge, and it’s separate from the permissions for the car and the booking business. Think of it as one link in a three-part chain.
What the licence allows, and what it doesn’t
A PHV driver can only undertake pre-booked journeys that have been accepted by a licensed operator. Street hails and taxi ranks belong to the taxi (hackney carriage) regime, not private hire – that boundary matters in practice, and shapes the way that PHV professionals operate.
In the PHV model, the booking lives with the operator; there is a record of the job, a record of who accepted it, and a record of the vehicle used. Those records sit behind insurance, enforcement and passenger protection.
If something goes wrong, the operator can trace the booking and the driver, and TfL can audit what happened. If a driver takes casual street work outside the operator’s system, it’s not just a technical breach – it undermines the whole framework and can cost the licence.
Three licences in play, not one
PHV driver checks actually consist of three different checks: these cover your fitness, competence and character. The vehicle licence covers the specific car used for PHV work, including its age, condition, insurance and compliance.
The operator licence covers the business that accepts bookings and dispatches them to drivers. A job is lawful only when all three links are licensed and connected: a licensed driver, a licensed vehicle, and a licensed operator.
Swap any link for an unlicensed substitute – a borrowed car, an unlicensed operator, or a driver without a current badge – and the booking is not lawful, even if the journey itself appears ordinary and safe enough.
Who qualifies: the core criteria
TfL’s basic requirements are simple enough, if detailed in practice. You need to be an adult driver with sufficient experience, medically fit to the professional standard, able to navigate without relying entirely on satnav, and able to communicate in English. You also need to satisfy checks on criminal record and tax status, and you must be “fit and proper” overall.
You must be 21 or over and have held a full UK, Northern Ireland or EEA licence for at least three years by the time the PHV badge is granted. You also need the legal right to live and work in the UK.
An enhanced DBS check is required, and drivers are expected to subscribe to the DBS Update Service and keep that subscription running for as long as they are licensed. Continuous subscription lets TfL monitor their status without having to formally submit new checks all the time.
In terms of medical fitness, you are assessed to DVLA Group 2 – the higher professional-driver standard used for bus and HGV drivers. Your GP, or a doctor with access to your records, completes the medical. If you have long-term conditions, allow time to gather letters or test results.
There is a practical map-reading and route-planning assessment at a TfL centre. Satnav is obviously useful for PHV drivers, but the test checks you can plan safe routes, recognise waypoints and detours, and still drive safely if the device fails.
You must also meet the English Language Requirement (speaking and listening) and pass SERU – Safety, Equality and Regulatory Understanding – which also checks reading and writing using TfL’s PHV Driver Handbook.
You will also need to complete an HMRC tax check to confirm you are set up to declare private-hire income where relevant.
The application in practice
Smooth applications tend to follow the same general progression. You’ll need to create a TfL licensing account and book the topographical test early, because slots fill up. You’ll also have to book the English appointment and the SERU assessment.
In parallel, submit the enhanced DBS application, and subscribe to the Update Service so future checks can run automatically. Arrange a Group 2 medical with your GP or a doctor who has access to your records.
Gather proof of your identity, right-to-work and driving-licence details, take compliant photos, and upload documents clearly. The slowest applications are usually the ones that chase paperwork after the tests, rather than before them.
TfL looks at the file as a whole: eligibility, test passes, DBS status, medical fitness and any history on previous licences. If successful, you receive a PHV licence, a badge and ID, and instructions on how and where to display them. You cannot lawfully start work until that licence is live, even if an operator is ready to on-board you and a PHV-licensed vehicle is parked outside.
How long the licence lasts
A London private-hire driver licence is normally issued for three years. You must keep the DBS Update Service subscription active, provide fresh medical evidence at the intervals that apply to your age and health, and comply with any updated competence checks TfL brings in.
Licences can be shortened if your immigration permission is time-limited, and they can be suspended or revoked if you stop meeting the “fit and proper” standard. Day to day, drivers also need to follow operator policies on record-keeping, safeguarding, complaints handling and data protection.
As should be clear by now, when people in London say “PCO licence,” they mean TfL’s Private Hire (PHV) Driver Licence. Choose this route if you plan to do pre-booked private-hire work in the capital- as a chauffeur, minicab, or app-based PHV. Leave enough time for the topographical assessment, the English test and SERU, a Group 2 medical, an enhanced DBS with a live Update Service subscription, the HMRC tax check, and the usual identity and right-to-work proofs. Expect the licence, once granted, to run for three years, with ongoing duties to stay fit, competent and compliant.