DMV Points vs TLC Points: How Both Add Up for Drivers

As a TLC driver you have two point records. Your state driver license (your chauffeur's license) gets DMV points when you are convicted of a traffic ticket. Your TLC Driver License gets TLC points when OATH finds you guilty of certain TLC rules. TLC's Persistent Violator Program adds the two together: 6 to 9 points in 15 months means a TLC suspension of up to 30 days, and 10 or more means revocation (TLC rule 80-27).

This page explains which ticket goes where, how each agency counts, and how one traffic stop can touch both records. For the rules on getting or renewing a license with points, see DMV points and your TLC license.

Two kinds of tickets, two places to answer them

It matters who wrote the ticket and on what form.

• A TLC summons is written under the TLC rules (for example, 80-13(a)(3)(vii) for a red light). TLC inspectors and Port Authority Police write many of these, and NYPD writes some. You answer it at OATH (the city's hearing office). If you are found guilty, the points listed in the rule go on your TLC license. See what happens after a TLC summons.
• A state traffic ticket is written under the NY Vehicle and Traffic Law. In New York City, all non-criminal traffic tickets are decided by the DMV Traffic Violations Bureau (TVB), not OATH (NY DMV). A conviction puts DMV points on your driver license.
• Camera tickets (red light, speed, bus lane) are different again: they go to the vehicle's registered owner and carry no points at all. See speed and red light cameras.

The same violation can carry different points

TLC wrote its own point values into rule 80-13(a)(3) for "hazardous" moving violations. They are not always the same as the DMV's values, and the DMV raised several of its values on February 16, 2026 (NY DMV). Compare:

Sources: TLC chapter 80 §80-13(a)(3), §80-14(a), §80-14(g); DMV point system.

Two things follow from this table:

1. The form of the ticket can change the points. The same 25 mph-over speeding stop is 5 points as a TLC summons and 6 points as a state ticket.
2. Under the rule's wording, TLC counts DMV points "as assessed by" the DMV. TLC rules define DMV Points as points assessed by the DMV (or your state's agency) on your license (2023 rule package). So the DMV's higher 2026 values can count toward your TLC total. Ask a lawyer how this applies to tickets from before February 16, 2026.

You should not be punished twice for one act

NYC Administrative Code §19-507.1(e) says a TLC driver must not get points on the TLC license, or duplicate penalties, when the same act breaks another law and the violations "duplicate each other or are substantively the same" — and that the driver "may be issued only one summons or notice of violation for such violation" (Local Law 12 of 2020 text).

In practice: if a single act led to both a TLC summons and a state ticket, tell your lawyer or representative before you plead to either. Separately, TLC rule 80-27(a)(2) says that when several violations come from one incident, TLC counts only the one with the highest points for the Persistent Violator total.

How each agency counts

Sources: TLC rule 80-27; DMV point system; DMV Driver Responsibility Assessment.

The date difference matters. TLC counts from the conviction date. A ticket you fight for months is not on TLC's count until you are convicted, and then it stays in TLC's window for 15 months from that date. The DMV counts from the violation date.

The DMV's own costs

Even before TLC acts, DMV points cost money. If you get 6 points within 18 months, the DMV charges a Driver Responsibility Assessment of $100 a year for 3 years ($300), plus $25 a year for each point above 6. Alcohol- or drug-related convictions or a chemical test refusal mean $250 a year for 3 years. If you don't pay, the DMV suspends your license (NY DMV).

A suspended state license is an emergency for a TLC driver. TLC rule 80-11(c) says you must not drive a taxi or FHV without a valid chauffeur's license, and TLC will summarily suspend your TLC license if you do. See TLC license suspended: what to do.

If your driver license is from another state

TLC rules define DMV Points as points assessed by the New York DMV or the equivalent agency of your state of residence on your license (2023 rule package). So points from your home state can count toward TLC's total. If you want TLC to apply a course credit and your license is not from New York, rule 80-27(a)(5) says you must give TLC a recent driving abstract from your state. Note that New York's own record works differently: convictions from other states do not add points to a New York record, except convictions in Canada (NY DMV).

A worked example

This is an illustration, not a prediction for your case.

• March: You are convicted at TVB of a red light ticket. DMV +3.
• June: OATH finds you guilty of a TLC summons for an unsafe lane change, 80-13(a)(3)(xii). TLC +3.
• Total in TLC's 15-month window: 6. That reaches the Persistent Violator suspension range. TLC can issue a Persistent Violator summons.

If, before that summons is decided, you complete a DMV-approved Defensive Driving Course, TLC deducts 3 DMV points and your total falls to 3. If you finish the course after the summons is decided, the reduction counts only after you serve the suspension (rule 80-27(a)(5)). Check your own numbers with the points calculator.

What to do when you get any ticket with points

Pleading guilty to a ticket can look cheap and fast. But the points can push you into a TLC suspension that costs far more in lost work. A lawyer can tell you whether a TLC summons is worth contesting at OATH; a traffic lawyer can advise on TVB tickets. For the bigger picture, read the Persistent Violator Program guide and the history of the Critical Driver Program.