How to complain about a taxi, private hire vehicle or its driver

How to make a complaint

All complaints must be sent in writing to:

You can contact us at:

The Licensing Service can investigate complaints such as:

• Overcharging (Hackney carriage only)
• Refusal to hire
• Rudeness/verbal abuse
• Journey routes
• Physical makeup of vehicle (e.g. cleanliness)
• Safety of vehicle (e.g. seat belts in working order.)

Other complaints such as dangerous driving, assault or theft should be reported to the Police and then to the licensing agency.

Information you need to supply

Where possible you should include:

• A description of the incident
• The driver's badge number (if possible)
• The plate number and/or registration number of the vehicle
• The date and time of the incident and journey details (to and from)
• Other passengers present
• The private hire operator name
• Your contact details

For those complaints which may end up in court, we will require witness statements from all those present during the incident. If you do not wish to complete a witness statement, the complaint cannot go to court and will be dealt with in a less formal manner.

What happens next

An officer will acknowledge receipt of the complaint within 10 working days, however the nature of the complaint may not warrant the contents being discussed with the complainant.

We will try to trace the driver and operator concerned and they will be allowed to respond to the complaint. Your contact details are never divulged to members of the trade without your permission. We will consider all the evidence to determine what/if further action should be taken. Once a decision has been reached, you will be informed.

The outcome

With all complaints, there must be sufficient evidence in order to take further action. Often this may mean there are witnesses, or some other form of evidence such as CCTV, video or audio evidence.

Where we have sufficient evidence to prove the complaint we can either; prosecute the driver if it is a criminal offence, take action against the driver's licence or warn the driver as to their future conduct.

The action depends on a number of factors; for example, some matters of complaint are not criminal offences and therefore cannot result in prosecution. Where there is insufficient evidence, it is unlikely we will be able to take further action. We may record the details on the driver's file and consider the matter if we receive further complaints of a similar nature.

In the event you are not happy with the outcome you can ask for your complaint to be reviewed by the Licensing Service Manager.