How to Check the Status of a TLC Summons

In short

To check a TLC summons, start with the summons number. Our free summons lookup searches the City's public OATH case data and shows whether OATH has the summons, its hearing date, the violation date and the rule codes charged. For taxi summonses that public data does not include the result, the penalty or payments. Get those from OATH's decision and from TLC (TLC UP and, for some summonses, LARS). Check early: the hearing date is the deadline that matters most.

What you need

• The summons number, printed on the summons. Type it exactly, with no spaces.
• Ideally, the summons itself. Under TLC rule §68-06, a summons must show the date, time and place of the alleged violation, a description of it, the rule or code section, the hearing date, time and place (or how to schedule one), and whether you must appear in person.

If you don't know what the parts of your summons mean, our summons decoder walks through them.

Option 1: our free lookup (hearing date and charges)

Type the summons number into the summons lookup. It searches the OATH Hearings Division Case Status dataset on NYC Open Data. That is the City's public copy of OATH's case records, and it includes summonses issued by TLC, the Port Authority Police and NYPD that are heard as taxi cases. For privacy we show only the first letter of the respondent's last name.

What it reliably shows: that OATH has the summons, the issuing agency, the violation date, the scheduled hearing date and the charge codes. If a code there looks unfamiliar, look it up in our charge code library. Old pre-1992 numbers, Admin Code shorthand and mistyped codes are listed under other codes.

What it can't show for taxi summonses: when we built our statistics we found that, for taxi rows, the dataset's hearing result, hearing status, penalty, amount paid and balance fields are blank. So a blank result in the lookup does not mean your case was dismissed or that nothing is owed. It means the public data doesn't say.

Option 2: TLC UP and LARS (your license and what you owe TLC)

Penalties on TLC summonses are paid to TLC, not OATH. Sign in to TLC UP to check your license status and review summons information. TLC says some summonses can be paid online in LARS. For others, follow the instructions in the summons email and letter (TLC). If TLC has sent you a notice that your license will be suspended for an unpaid fine, act on it right away; see paying TLC fines.

Option 3: ask OATH (the decision)

OATH issues the written decision after a hearing, and mails default decisions. If you lost the paperwork or something looks wrong, contact OATH with your summons number. OATH's Hearings and Defaults page also offers text reminders: text OATHreminder to 917-451-8829. If you are unrepresented and need help, text OATHhelp to the same number.

Reading what you find

A future hearing date. The case is open. Before that date you can respond: plead guilty and pay if the summons allows it, ask TLC about a settlement, request a phone or in-person hearing, or reschedule once. Mark the date. If nobody responds, OATH decides by default.

A hearing date in the past. Something happened on that date: a hearing, a reschedule, or a default. Find out which from OATH or your decision. If you never knew about the hearing, read missed your hearing?. The time limits to reopen a default start running right away.

More than one summons. Look up each one. Hearing dates, charges and deadlines are separate for every summons, even if they came from the same stop.

Not found. Check the number. Very new summonses can take time to appear. If it still isn't there, ask OATH. Don't treat "not found" as "over". One related TLC rule: if TLC fails to request a hearing within one year from the date of a summons, the charges are withdrawn (TLC §68-08). Confirm that with TLC in writing rather than assuming it.

If the details look wrong

Compare the lookup with your paper summons. A wrong rule code, a misspelled name or a different date is worth noting, but it rarely ends a case by itself. TLC's rule says that if the rule cited and the written description of the violation conflict, the description controls (§68-06(a)(3)). Bring any errors to your hearing or to your representative rather than ignoring the summons. See what if the wrong rule is on my TLC summons?

If a summons you have never seen appears under your name, check that TLC has your current mailing address. TLC can serve licensees by first-class mail to the last mailing address on file (§68-05), so an old address is a common reason drivers miss hearings.

Why the status matters

Two deadlines drive almost everything in a TLC case:

1. The hearing date. Respond on or before it, or you're found in violation by default, and OATH says a higher fine may apply.
2. The payment date. TLC rule §80-02(c) makes a fine due within 30 days of a guilty finding. If it isn't paid, TLC can suspend your license 10 business days after a written notice.

Use the deadline calculator once you know your dates.

Data privacy

The OATH dataset is public and includes respondent names. Our lookup reduces the name to an initial. It keeps results only briefly, in a private cache (up to 12 hours), so repeat checks are fast, and never publishes what you searched. The lookup is a convenience. The official record is OATH's, and anything owed is TLC's to confirm.

Check your summons now. It takes ten seconds.