NYC TLC Exam Rules & Regulations

Who can get a TLC driver license

A TLC driver license (still widely called a “hack license”) is what lets you drive a yellow taxi, green taxi, or for-hire vehicle in New York City. The eligibility conditions are set out in 35 RCNY §80-04.

• You must be at least 19 years old.
• You must hold a valid New York State Chauffeur’s license — Class E, or a commercial Class A, B or C.
• You must have a valid Social Security number.
• Your DMV record must show no more than 5 points in the preceding 15 months. At 6 or more points in that window, the application is denied.
• All outstanding parking tickets, traffic tickets, and DMV or TLC fines must be paid.
• Out-of-state applicants must supply a driving abstract covering their recent record.

The 90-day application window

Once you submit your application through LARS, every remaining requirement must be completed within 90 days or the application is denied and you start over. The 24-hour education course in particular has to be finished well inside that window — TLC advises completing it by around day 85 — because you cannot sit the exam until the course is done.

What you must complete

The full sequence, in the order most applicants work through it:

• Apply online through LARS (apps.nyc.gov/lars).
• TLC Driver Education Course — 24 hours of classroom instruction, usually three 8-hour days.
• Passenger Assistance / Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle training — classroom instruction plus a hands-on assessment covering wheelchair securement, disability etiquette, and service animals.
• Pass the TLC Driver License Exam.
• Drug test through the designated laboratory.
• Fingerprint-based background check through IdentoGO.
• Medical certification completed by an MD or DO.
• NYS DMV-approved 6-hour Defensive Driving Course, plus a short sex-trafficking awareness video.

The exam itself

The TLC Driver License Exam is 80 multiple-choice questions delivered on a computer at a PSI test center, with a 2-hour time limit. You need 70% — 56 of 80 — to pass. There is a fee per attempt, a 24-hour wait between attempts, and you may keep retaking it until your 90-day application window closes.

The exam is offered in several languages, including English, Spanish and Bengali. Questions are drawn from the same five subject areas this guide is organized around, which are also the five practice categories on this site.

Annual drug testing

Drug testing is not a one-time hurdle at application — it repeats every year for as long as you hold the license, whether or not you are actively driving.

• In a non-renewal year, test within the 90 days before your license anniversary date.
• In a renewal year, test within the 90 days before your expiration date.
• A test taken more than 90 days early does not count and will be rejected.
• Miss the deadline and your license is suspended immediately; testing 30 or more days late also carries a fine. The suspension stays until you pass a test and clear the fines.
• A failed test means suspension in an interim year, or refusal to renew in a renewal year. Results can be contested with prescription documentation.

Renewal and defensive driving

A TLC driver license runs for three years. The renewal window opens 90 days before expiration — you cannot start earlier — and renewal requires a current drug test, a defensive driving certificate less than three years old, the TLC renewal course, the sex-trafficking awareness video, and all tickets paid. Everything is submitted online; TLC does not take in-person applications, payments or documents.

If your license does actually expire, there is a limited grace period (roughly six months) to complete renewal requirements, and a late fee is billed once you renew. Let that period lapse and you are back to applying as a new driver.

Separately from renewal, completing a DMV-approved defensive driving course deducts 3 points from your DMV record. It only applies to violations from the 15 months before you finished the course, and you can use it for point reduction only once in any 18-month period.

What must be in the vehicle

Rule §80-23 (taxis and street-hail liveries) requires specific items to be present and visible, each with its own fine if missing:

• The working technology system, or a written trip record where one is permitted.
• Your TLC driver license, displayed in the license frame where passengers can see it.
• The rate card, in the rate card frame.
• A five-borough NYC street map or a GPS device.
• The taximeter, license and rate card must stay clearly visible to rear-seat passengers, and illuminated after sunset.

Vehicle inspections

Inspection frequency depends on the vehicle class. Yellow medallion taxis are inspected three times a year; green street-hail liveries every six months; for-hire vehicles every two years. TLC inspections are done at the Woodside facility in Queens, and cover brakes, seat belts, lights, suspension and emissions.

A vehicle that fails may not carry passengers until it passes. Re-inspections carry their own fees, and for-hire vehicles get a limited number of re-inspection attempts before the compliance deadline.

Driver conduct — the serious violations

Rule §80-12 covers proper conduct, and the penalties at the top of the scale are severe and largely non-negotiable:

• Bribery of a TLC employee or other public servant: a $10,000 fine and revocation.
• Sexual contact with any person in the course of the work: a $2,000 fine and mandatory revocation.
• Fraud, misrepresentation or theft: $350–$1,000 and a suspension of 5 to 60 days.
• Threatening, harassing or abusing any person: $350–$1,000 and a suspension of 5 to 30 days.

Fatigued driving limits

Rule §80-14(f) caps how long you may carry passengers for hire. You must not drive passengers more than 10 hours in any 24-hour period, and an 8-hour rest period is what resets that daily count. Across a week — measured Monday through Sunday — the ceiling is 60 hours. Fines escalate with the number of hours over the limit.

Electronic devices — stricter than state law

This is one of the most commonly missed exam points. New York State law bans hand-held phone use. TLC rule §80-14(g)(1) goes further: a TLC driver must not use an electronic communication device or approved tablet at all while operating the vehicle — hands-free included. Device use is only permitted while lawfully standing or parked.

The TLC penalty runs into the hundreds of dollars, may carry a suspension, and typically requires completing a distracted driving course. The Passenger Bill of Rights states the same thing from the passenger’s side: riders are entitled to a driver who does not use a phone, hand-held or hands-free, while driving.

Summonses and the hearing process

TLC summonses are heard by OATH, the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings — not by TLC itself. You can plead guilty and pay through LARS, request a hearing, or pursue a settlement with TLC.

Hearings can be held by phone, in person, or decided on a written defense submitted online. Requests have lead-time deadlines — a few business days for a phone hearing, slightly longer for in person — so a late request means the original hearing date stands.

Failing to appear produces a default judgment: an automatic guilty finding with fines, points and possible suspension or revocation. A default cannot simply be appealed; it has to be reopened by motion. Genuine appeals are generally due within 30 days of the decision, and the penalty usually has to be paid first unless a financial hardship waiver is granted.

Speed limits

The citywide default speed limit is 25 mph unless a sign says otherwise. That default was lowered from 30 mph under Vision Zero, and NYC DOT signage states it directly: “NYC Law Speed Limit 25 unless otherwise posted.”

Under state legislation commonly known as Sammy’s Law, the city has authority to post lower limits in designated areas, and has been rolling out 20 mph zones in selected neighborhoods. These are posted zones, not a new citywide rule. Some school zones and shared streets are posted lower still. The safe way to hold this for the exam and for the road: 25 is the default, and anything lower applies where it is posted — so read the signs.

The DMV point system

DMV points attach to your personal driving record and are separate from the TLC points described in the Vision Zero section. Common values:

• Speeding 1–10 mph over: 3 points. 11–20 over: 4 points. 21–30 over: 6 points. 31–40 over: 8 points. More than 40 over: 11 points.
• Speeding in a work zone: 8 points.
• Passing a stopped school bus: 8 points.
• Using a mobile phone or portable electronic device: 5 points.
• Reckless driving: 5 points.
• Failure to yield right of way: 3 points.
• An alcohol or drug-related driving incident: 11 points.

Point thresholds — watch the different windows

Three different counting windows get confused constantly, and the exam tests the difference. DMV suspends a license at 11 points accumulated within a set look-back period. DMV also assesses a Driver Responsibility Assessment once you reach 6 points within 18 months. TLC’s own Persistent Violator Program uses a 15-month window. They are three separate systems counting three different ways — do not merge them.

The DMV Point and Insurance Reduction Program subtracts 4 points from the suspension calculation, but the convictions and the points stay on your record.

Phones and electronic devices

Under state law, hand-held talking, texting, emailing, viewing or taking images, and gaming are all prohibited; calling 911 or emergency services is the exception. Fines escalate for repeat convictions within 18 months, plus a surcharge, and each conviction carries 5 DMV points.

Remember that TLC’s rule is stricter still — hands-free use is also prohibited for TLC drivers while the vehicle is in operation.

Seat belts

Every occupant of the vehicle must be restrained, in every seating position, front and rear, regardless of age. The rear-seat requirement for adults took effect in November 2020. There is no taxi or livery exemption — DMV states explicitly that the driver and each passenger must wear a seat belt in taxi and livery vehicles.

The driver is responsible for making sure passengers comply. Child restraint requirements step down by age and size: a federally approved child safety seat for the youngest children, a booster with lap and shoulder belt for the next band, and a regular seat belt once a child is old enough or large enough.

Bus lanes, bike lanes and curbside work

TLC’s own guidance on lane use is specific. A taxi may enter an active bus lane only to make the next available right turn, or to quickly drop off or pick up a passenger — and you should enter near the end of the block where you are turning. Stop only as long as it takes for passengers to get in or out and reach the sidewalk safely; a side street is usually the better choice.

Driving, stopping or parking in a bike lane or bike path is illegal. Yield to cyclists when turning, and check before opening doors — “dooring” a cyclist is both a violation and a serious injury risk. On streets with protected bike paths, use the floating parking lane for passenger exchanges. Both bus lane and bike lane violations carry fines in the low hundreds.

The violations TLC drivers actually get

TLC publishes the ranking of its drivers’ most common violations, and it is worth studying as a list of what to avoid: moving violations and unsafe lane changes come first, followed closely by cell phone use and disobeying traffic signals. Those three alone account for well over half of all violations. Speeding, improper turns, failure to signal, running stop signs and red lights, failure to yield, and illegal U-turns fill out the rest.

What Vision Zero is

Vision Zero is New York City’s initiative to eliminate traffic deaths, launched in 2014 and combining street redesign, education and enforcement. Its founding premise matters for the exam: traffic deaths and serious injuries are treated as preventable crashes, not unavoidable “accidents.”

On the TLC side it drives the fatigued driving rules, vehicle safety technology pilots such as electronic data recorders and driver alerts, Vision Zero vehicle markings, and the TLC Safety Honor Roll.

The Persistent Violator Program — and what changed

This is the single most commonly out-of-date fact in TLC study material. There used to be two separate programs: the Critical Driver Program and the Persistent Violator Program. As of June 2023 they were consolidated — the Critical Driver Program no longer exists as a separate program. Any guide still describing them as two distinct programs is out of date.

The consolidated Persistent Violator Program (§80-27) works on a 15-month window and counts TLC points, DMV points, or the two combined:

• At least 6 but fewer than 10 points in 15 months: TLC driver license suspended for up to 30 days.
• 10 or more points in 15 months: TLC driver license revoked.
• Points are counted from the date of conviction, not the date of the violation.
• Voluntarily completing a defensive driving course earns a 3-point deduction. Completed before adjudication, the deduction applies first; completed after, it only applies once the suspension has been served.
• After a revocation there is a multi-year bar on relicensing, with a waiver possible after a minimum period if the driver’s record is nearly clean in the years before the request.

TLC points sit on top of DMV points

A professional driver is penalized twice for the same conduct: DMV assesses points against the driving record, and TLC separately assesses its own points against the TLC license under §80-13. The tiers:

• Stationary violations — double parking, no standing, bike lane and similar: no points on a first offense, then a point on a second within 15 months, and a point plus a deferred suspension on a third.
• Non-hazardous moving violations: the same escalating structure, at a higher fine level.
• Hazardous moving violations — speeding, red lights, stop signs, improper lane changes, passing a stopped school bus: TLC points are assessed immediately, scaling with severity, with the highest values reserved for extreme speeding and school bus violations.

Remedial education

Rule amendments adopted in 2025 added a Vision Zero Remedial Education Course. A driver convicted of a third or subsequent stationary or non-hazardous moving violation inside a 15-month window must complete the course within 60 days of conviction to avoid the deferred suspension taking effect.

The Right of Way Law

NYC Administrative Code §19-190, passed as part of the original Vision Zero package, is the flagship enforcement law and a likely exam topic. Failing to yield to a pedestrian or cyclist who has the right of way is a traffic infraction. If that failure to yield causes physical contact and injury, it becomes a misdemeanour, with the possibility of jail time as well as a fine.

The law does not apply where the failure to yield was not caused by the driver’s failure to exercise due care — but the practical lesson is simple: yield, and slow down through crossings and turns.

School zone speed cameras

NYC operates cameras in hundreds of school speed zones, and since August 2022 they run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, year-round — not only during school hours. A violation is issued for exceeding the posted limit by more than 10 mph.

One detail catches drivers out: liability for a camera violation falls on the registered owner of the vehicle, not the person driving. That means these do not put DMV points on the driver’s licence — but if you drive someone else’s vehicle, the ticket lands on them, and fleet and owner arrangements usually pass the cost straight back to you.

Refusing service

Rule §80-20 is blunt: a driver must not refuse, by words, gestures or any other means, to take a passenger to any destination within New York City, Westchester or Nassau counties, or Newark Airport.

Also prohibited: refusing a passenger after accepting an e-hail through an app, and asking a passenger’s destination before they are seated — with narrow exceptions for flex-fare trips and for an off-duty driver returning home or to the garage following the prescribed procedure.

The penalties are set in the Administrative Code and are mandatory in structure, not discretionary:

• First offence: a fine of not less than $200 and not more than $500.
• Second within 24 months: not less than $350 and up to $1,000, and TLC may suspend the licence for up to 30 days.
• Third within 36 months: mandatory revocation, plus a fine of up to $1,000.
• After a revocation on these grounds, no TLC licence may be issued for a year.

Accessibility and service animals

Under §80-20 a driver must:

• Accept a passenger with a disability without requiring that they travel with an attendant.
• Transport luggage, wheelchairs, crutches and other mobility aids.
• Assist wheelchair users entering and exiting the vehicle.
• Secure passengers with disabilities and their mobility devices as covered in the required training.
• Accept service animals accompanying passengers with disabilities.
• Assist with payment when asked.

Fares, payment and overcharging

Metered fares are built from an initial charge plus per-unit charges that accrue by distance above a threshold speed and by time below it, with additional surcharges: a night surcharge, a weekday peak surcharge, an MTA state surcharge, an improvement surcharge, and congestion-related charges for trips involving the relevant parts of Manhattan. There are flat-fare and airport-surcharge arrangements for certain airport trips, and tolls are added at the discounted E-ZPass rate. The individual dollar amounts are adjusted from time to time, so check the current rate card and the official fare page rather than memorizing figures from any study guide, including this one.

Payment rules are firm and frequently tested. Drivers must accept major credit cards for any fare amount — no minimums and no surcharges. The passenger uses the rear-seat terminal themselves. Passengers are always entitled to a receipt, and tipping is entirely their choice.

Overcharging is treated far more seriously than a simple fare dispute: an overcharge of $10 or more above the approved rate triggers mandatory revocation, on top of fines and possible restitution.

Note the structural difference the exam likes to test: yellow and green taxis are metered, while a livery/for-hire trip is quoted by the dispatcher in advance, and the passenger pays that quoted amount unless the trip itself changes.

Lost property

Rule §80-18 sets out specific duties, each with its own penalty for failure:

• After every airport trip, immediately inspect the passenger compartment and the trunk to make sure nothing was left behind.
• Return found property to the passenger where possible; otherwise take it without delay to a police precinct as directed (for-hire and street-hail drivers may also use the vehicle’s base).
• Never demand or request payment in exchange for returning property.
• Promptly inform the Commission that property was found and where it is being held.

Complaints

Passengers report lost items and file complaints through 311, normally quoting the medallion number — which appears on the hood, the licence plate, the roof light, the partition and the receipt. A complaint that TLC pursues becomes a summons heard at OATH, following the process described in the licensing section above.

The Passenger Bill of Rights

TLC publishes a Bill of Rights for each service type, and the exam draws from it directly. For yellow taxis, passengers have the right to:

• Not be refused service based on race, ethnicity, cultural background, disability, gender or sexual orientation.
• Travel with a service animal.
• Be driven to any destination in NYC, Westchester, Nassau or Newark Airport.
• A TLC-licensed driver whose licence is displayed inside the vehicle.
• A clean, safe vehicle with working seat belts for all passengers.
• The most direct route, or the route of the passenger’s choosing.
• Ask the driver to adjust the heat, air conditioning and radio.
• Use the E-ZPass lanes and pay the E-ZPass toll rate.
• Pay by cash, credit or debit card, and decide whether and how much to tip.
• Pay nothing extra for baggage or for help loading belongings.
• A safe, courteous driver who obeys all traffic laws and knows city geography.
• A driver who does not use a cell phone — hand-held or hands-free — while driving.
• Clean air free of smoke and scent, and a quiet trip without horn honking.

Where livery differs

The livery and for-hire Bill of Rights covers much of the same ground, with two differences worth remembering: the passenger receives a fare quote from the dispatcher and pays that amount, and the passenger has the right not to share a ride unless they want to.

What the questions look like

The typical format gives you a pickup intersection and a destination, and asks for the nearest expressway, the best route, or the direction you would travel. Answering means knowing which highway serves which neighbourhood, and holding a compass orientation of the city in your head.

The five boroughs and their counties

Manhattan is New York County; Brooklyn is Kings County; Queens is Queens County; the Bronx is Bronx County; and Staten Island is Richmond County. Questions sometimes use the county name rather than the borough name.

Airports

Three airports serve the city. JFK sits in southern Queens and is reached primarily via the Van Wyck Expressway. LaGuardia is in northern Queens, off the Grand Central Parkway. Newark Liberty is in New Jersey — remember that it is a permitted destination you may not refuse, and that it carries its own surcharge.

Expressways and parkways

The routes that come up most often: the Major Deegan and the Cross Bronx in the Bronx; the Bruckner Expressway and I-278; the Van Wyck as the JFK connector in Queens; the Grand Central Parkway past LaGuardia; Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn; and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Expressway. Know roughly where each begins and ends, and which neighbourhoods it serves.

Bridges and tunnels

East River crossings: the Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg and Ed Koch Queensboro (59th Street) bridges, plus the Queens-Midtown and Hugh L. Carey (Brooklyn-Battery) tunnels. Hudson River crossings: the George Washington Bridge, and the Lincoln and Holland tunnels. Also know the Verrazzano-Narrows between Brooklyn and Staten Island, and the RFK/Triborough, Throgs Neck, Whitestone and Henry Hudson bridges.

How Manhattan is numbered

Numbered streets run east–west and increase as you go north. Numbered avenues run north–south and increase as you go west — so Third Avenue is east of Eighth. Fifth Avenue is the dividing line between East and West addresses: 20 East 42nd Street and 20 West 42nd Street are on opposite sides of Fifth. Getting this relationship right answers a surprising number of exam questions on its own.

Landmarks and neighbourhoods

Be able to place the well-known ones: Times Square at 42nd Street between Broadway and Seventh Avenue, Grand Central Terminal, the Apollo Theater in Harlem, Coney Island in southern Brooklyn, and the major cross-borough streets such as Metropolitan Avenue between Brooklyn and Queens and Victory Boulevard on Staten Island.

Why it stays relevant after the exam

Two rules keep geography live once you are licensed: §80-23 requires a five-borough street map or a GPS device in the vehicle, and the Passenger Bill of Rights entitles every passenger to “a driver who knows city geography.”