Taxi and Private Hire: National Register of Refusals, Revocations and Suspensions

You should read this page alongside our general privacy page for taxi and private hire licensing.

Background

In 2018 the Local Government Association (LGA) launched a National Register of Taxi and Private Hire licence Revocations and Refusals, known at that time, as the 'NR3'. TfL began participating in the NR3 from 2021. From April 2023, the database will begin to include the details of taxi and private hire drivers who have had their licence suspended, and will become known as the National Register of Refusals, Revocations and Suspensions: 'NR3S'.

The overall purpose of the NR3S is to provide a consistent means for all licensing authorities to make decisions on whether an individual is 'fit and proper' to hold a licence, so improving public (and road) safety for all users of taxi and private hire services in the UK.

In particular the NR3S aims to tackle the issue of individuals making applications to different licensing authorities following a previous application refusal (including a refusal to renew a licence), revocation or suspension of a licence. Without the NR3S, if drivers do not proactively disclose information about a previous revocation refusal, or suspension, there is often no way for another licensing authority to find this out.

The LGA originally commissioned the National Anti-Fraud Network (NAFN) to develop and host the NR3, which licensing authorities used on a voluntary basis. NAFN is a is a shared service, which supports public authorities to tackle fraud and share intelligence safely and securely.

From April 2023, it will be a statutory requirement, under the Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Act 2022 for all licensing authorities  to use a licensing information database to record refusals, suspensions and revocations of taxi and private hire vehicle driver licences for safeguarding or road safety reasons. The Department for Transport (DfT) has designated NAFN as the body which will operate the NR3S on its behalf.  

Basic licensee information will be recorded in the NR3S register; it will not include the reason for the refusal, revocation or suspension. The NR3S only applies to drivers; it does not include individuals who hold operator or vehicle licences.

If the licensing authority requires more detail about the refusal, revocation or suspension (e.g. to verify it is the same individual and/or the specific reasons for the previous decision) they will need to make a request for further information directly to that authority. The purpose of the NR3S  is to ensure that licensing authorities have all the information necessary (ie an individual's full licensing history) to help them reach a decision on whether an individual making an application is fit and proper.

Inclusion on the register does not mean that future applications will automatically be refused as decisions about new applications will consider all available information. 
 

Personal information held in the NR3S

The data fields below will relate specifically to individuals who have had taxi and private hire driver licences refused, revoked or suspended by TfL:
a.    Name
b.    Date of birth
c.    Address
d.    Driving Licence number
e.    National Insurance number
f.    Licence type: (Hackney / Private Hire / Dual)
g.    Licensing action (revocation, refusal or suspension)
h.    Date of action / date action took effect
i.    End date of licence suspension

The data fields will be added by TfL to the NR3S in respect of revoked or refused or suspended Taxi and private hire driver licences and will be accessible to the other participating licensing authorities. There are in the region of 350 taxi and private hire licensing authorities in the UK. Equivalent data added by other licensing authorities participating in the NR3S will be visible to TfL.
 

Legal basis for sharing your personal information

Under data protection legislation, TfL is only allowed to use personal information if we have a proper reason or 'legal basis' to do so. In the case of adding or accessing data in the NR3S, there are a number of these legal grounds we rely on. These include:

Legal obligations:

TfL is legally required to participate in the NR3S under the Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Act 2022.

Our statutory and public functions:

TfL has a statutory duty to regulate the taxi and private hire trades in London under the London Hackney Carriages Act 1843 and Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998. This legislation covers the licensing of taxi and private hire drivers, taxi and private hire vehicles, and private hire operators. Therefore, TfL needs to collect and process your personal information to carry out this function and fulfil our legal obligations.

We also have a statutory duty to undertake activities to promote and encourage safe, integrated, efficient and economic transport facilities and services, and to deliver the Mayor's Transport Strategy
 

How TfL will use the NR3S

We will upload 'current data' to the NR3S on an ongoing basis (that is, where a licence has recently been refused, revoked or suspended).  but we will also upload historical data. When we originally commenced participation in July 2021, we uploaded historical revocations and refusals data, dating back to 1 January 2018. If TfL also decides to upload historical suspensions data, we will inform all affected drivers in writing before this takes place. 

The retention period for records in the NR3S is 11 years.

We will routinely check the details of new and renewing taxi and private hire driver applicants against the NR3S. In some situations we may also check the NR3S during the active period of your licence, for example if there are concerns around your fitness to continue holding your licence.

Where an apparent match on the NR3S  is found, we will make a formal request to the relevant licensing authority to verify it is the same individual and for further information around the reasons for their revocation, refusal or suspension. On receipt of this, we will use that data to inform our own licensing decision. All details will be added to your driver record. We will also respond to requests from other licensing authorities for the same information.

Before joining the NR3 in 2021, TfL completed a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) to ensure our participation properly considered all the privacy and data protection issues. We have completed an updated DPIA to reflect the new requirements in place from April 2023. Both DPIAs are published below.