Tandridge taxi and private-hire licensing

RESEARCHED AUTHORITY

Tandridge

Tandridge District Council · Sources checked 13 September 2026

Driver licensing

Official route/source found

Tandridge licenses hackney-carriage drivers and private-hire-only drivers; a hackney-carriage driver may drive either class of Tandridge vehicle. A new applicant must have held a DVLA driving licence for at least one year and submit identity, right-to-work and DVLA evidence. The council checks NR3 and requires an enhanced DBS followed by DBS Update Service registration, a Group 2 medical completed by the applicant's own GP with access to the full medical record, overseas good-conduct evidence where applicable, a council knowledge test and an approved taxi driving assessment. The published process also requires disability-awareness and taxi-safeguarding virtual-classroom courses. Hackney applicants take all six knowledge-test sections; private-hire applicants take the first four. Applications must be completed within four months of submission.

Vehicle licensing

Official route/source found

First licensing maximum age is six years, with renewal to twelve. A fresh MOT within28 days is required on application; subsequent MOT is six-monthly underageeight and four-monthly overageeight. Written-off vehicles are excluded. Accidents must be reported within72 hours.

Operator licensing

Official route/source found

Operator bases must be in Tandridge. All business individuals need immigration checks and criminal-record disclosure no more than six months old. The proposed name must not match or closely resemble another district operator. Planning advice is needed even for home operation, and public-access bases require public liability insurance. Submit operator form, disclosure, identification and fee. The page lists £300 for one year or £1,500 for five years without a commencement date. Operators must keep licence-condition records; lawful subcontracting is allowed but responsibility remains with the original accepting operator.

Licensing fees

Official route/source found

Current guidance lists three-year dual driver licence and badge£391.50; private-hire-only£285. The legal effective date and full fee table remain unverified.

Taxi tariff

Official evidence found; detail still to confirm

Current official table effective 1 December 2023. All bands include one mile or ten minutes, including incomplete parts; subsequent one-tenth mile or minute also includes parts. R1 Monday–Saturday 07:01–20:29: £5 then 30p. R2 £5.50 then 35p covers weekday nights 20:30–07:00, Saturday 20:30 through Monday 07:00, ordinary bank holidays and daytime carriage of more than four passengers. R3 £9.50 then 55p covers Christmas Eve 22:00 through Boxing Day 23:59 and New Year's Eve 22:00 through New Year's Day 23:59, plus the large-party circumstances printed in the source. Extras: externally carried luggage 20p each, each passenger beyond two 30p regardless of age, interior soiling £150. The R3 large-party wording omits some R2 weekend circumstances, so its complete applicability is unresolved; no shared time/distance allowance is treated as separately additive.

• Current official maximum fares

Mandatory qualifications

Official route/source found

Hackney applicants take six knowledge sections (60 questions/60 minutes); private-hire applicants take only the first four (40 questions/40 minutes), excluding places and routes. Each section needs 8/10; maximum three attempts in twelve months. Applicants complete disability-awareness virtual training, the driving assessment and safeguarding virtual-classroom training; safeguarding e-learning certificates are expressly rejected. A Group 2 medical must be from the registered own GP and remains valid three months before grant. A driving licence held at least one year is required. Refresher intervals are not stated.

• Current council driver guidance