On-Duty Unavailable (Green Cabs): Meaning

On-duty unavailable: the status a green cab driver (and a yellow taxi driver) sets in the Technology System (the meter and trip-recording system) to say "I am working, but not taking street hails right now." You use it after you accept a pre-arranged trip from your base, an e-hail, or an accessible dispatch. TLC's rules call it being "logged on but unavailable for street hail" (TLC Chapter 80, current as of October 12, 2026).

What the status means

The status protects the passenger who booked you. You cannot drop them to take a hail on the way.

You may say no to a hail

Because you are unavailable, refusing a person who waves at you is allowed. Rule §80-20(b) lists it among the "permitted reasons for refusing": item (13), a green cab whose driver "has accepted a dispatch call for a Pre-Arranged Trip and is logged on but unavailable for street-hail," and item (15), a taxi or green cab that accepted an accessible dispatch or accessible e-hail and is unavailable. Both items depend on the status actually being set.

How often it is charged

The green-cab hail ban while unavailable, 80-19(b)(5), is almost never written: 1 summons in the OATH data from 2016 to October 12, 2026, by Port Authority Police in 2019 (NYC Open Data). The off-duty rule next to it, 80-19(b)(6), has 10. These are allegations, not findings. The status matters more as a defense (a justified refusal) than as a source of summonses.

Where you will see this term

• On your Technology System, where you log on, log off or mark yourself unavailable for street hails.
• In TLC rules on Technology System use (§80-25), roof lights (§80-26) and refusals (§80-20).
• On a summons for 80-19(b)(5) or 80-25(c).

Common mix-ups

1. Unavailable vs off duty. Off duty means you have told the meter or Technology System you are off duty. An off-duty green cab may take a hail only if it is in the Hail Zone, heading to its base or home, has made the trip record entry, and the destination is directly on the route (80-19(b)(6), $75 / $100). See off duty and can I pick up a street hail on my way home. Unavailable allows no hails at all.
2. "Only for green cabs." The hail ban in 80-19(b)(5) is written for green cabs, but the duty to go unavailable after a dispatch (80-25(c)) and the roof-light rule apply to yellow taxis too.
3. Light on, still unavailable. A lit roof light tells people you are available. If you are unavailable, it must be off.

Related: Hail Zone, SHL, 80-19(b)(6), can green cabs use taxi stands, can green cabs pick up in Manhattan and green cab pickups by zone. More on the places hub.