Private Hire Cars and Minibuses

Private Hire Cars and Minibuses cannot be hailed in the street or stand at a taxi rank. They must be pre-booked, e.g. by mobile phone.

They must display a yellow disc in the left hand corner of the front windscreen. This disc indicates the Operator’s licence number; the number of passengers that the vehicle is licensed to carry; the licence expiry date; the vehicle registration number; and the make and model of the vehicle.

Some Private Hire cars are restricted to certain types of work and have a different coloured disc for identification purposes. For example, cars which are restricted to funerals and processions, are issued with a grey coloured disc.

Some Private Hire minibuses are restricted to a certain type of work for example, minibuses which are restricted to only working as courtesy vehicles, e.g. hotels or nursery schools etc..

A Private Hire Car may carry up to 8 passengers and a Private Hire Minibus may carry between 9 and 16 passengers, both excluding the driver.

Examples of Private Hire Operator Discs