Taxi and private hire licence fees frozen

The Transport for London (TfL) Board recently agreed to the freezing of all taxi and private hire licence fees with driver licensing fees being frozen for a second year running.

The Board also approved two changes to taxi and private hire fees which will come into effect today.

Taxi and private hire licence fees are reviewed annually and all funds generated are used to cover licensing and administrative costs. 

The taxi and private hire driver, operator and vehicle licence fees remain frozen at 2010/11 levels however, there will be increases in both the Knowledge of London appearance and written test fees.

These changes continue to reflect the cost of administering the Knowledge of London examination process including the back office administration activity, managing the written test and the knowledge appearances themselves. 

The current and revised Knowledge of London fees are provided in the table below:

John Mason, TfL's Director of Taxi and Private Hire, said: 'We have taken into account the difficult economic conditions drivers are facing and, combined with the back office cost savings we are striving to make, have been able to freeze the majority of fees this year. 

'The increases to the Knowledge of London fees reflect the cost of administering this process and therefore not passing these costs on to other licensees.'

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Notes to editors:

TfL's Taxi and Private Hire is responsible for licensing and regulating London's taxi and private hire services

Taxi fares and licence fees are reviewed annually

The proposed fees with effect from 4 April 2011 are detailed below: