Any person who wishes to take bookings for the hire of a private hire vehicle must first be licensed as a private hire operator. This licence relates to specific individuals at a particular premises.
The vehicle, driver and operator must all licensed by the same authority; this is usually referred to as the 'trinity' of licences. Operators have to make records of all the bookings they take and these records can be requested by us or the police at any time.
From 1 October 2015, an operator licensed by one authority can pass on a booking to an operator licensed by another authority. This is usually referred to as 'sub-contracting'. In any case, the second operator, the vehicle and the driver must still all be licensed by the same authority.
It is not possible to transfer a private hire operator's licence between individuals or premises. A new application must be made.