Apply to licence a hackney carriage vehicle or renew your existing licence

Hackney carriage vehicles are the only licensed vehicles that are available for immediate hire. This means they can be flagged down in the street, hired from a taxi rank or booked in advance.

How long is a licence valid for?

Vehicle licences are valid for one year. Once licensed, the vehicle may only be driven by a Cheshire West licensed driver.

Before you apply

You need to meet the following requirements:

• the vehicle must be of an approved type. There are different requirements for each zone (Chester, Ellesmere Port and Neston and Vale Royal)
• if you don't own the vehicle you must provide evidence that you are legally allowed to use it
• the vehicle must hold a valid licenced vehicle test certificate issued by one of our approved testing stations
• provide valid insurance which covers the vehicle for public and private hire
• exchange your expired plates for new ones (renewals only)

Cost

All fees must be paid at the time of application and will only be refunded in exceptional circumstances.

• Hackney carriage vehicle licence (Ellesmere Port and Winsford) - £308
• Hackney carriage vehicle licence (Chester) - £308
• Dual Hackney carriage and private hire drivers licence (three years) - £198

How long will it take?

We aim to process your application within 10 working days, subject to receipt of a valid application, payment and supporting evidence including a DBS certificate.

How to apply

If you have not already done so, you will need to register for an account.

When making your application you must ensure that all the data entered is correct, if data is entered incorrectly the application will be rejected and will need to be resubmitted.