Documents for a TLC Hearing: A Practical Checklist

In short

TLC tells drivers to bring any witnesses or documents that support your defense. You can still have a hearing without them, but the hearing officer decides on evidence (TLC). A summons sworn under penalty of perjury already counts as prima facie evidence of what it says (48 RCNY §6-12), so your documents are how you answer it. Start collecting the day you get the summons. App data, dashcam video and witnesses' memories fade fast.

This page lists what to gather for each kind of charge, where to get it, and how to get it in front of the hearing officer. It is general information, not legal advice.

What OATH will look at

OATH hearings are informal. Under 48 RCNY §6-12:

• "Relevant and reliable evidence may be admitted without regard to technical or formal rules or laws of evidence" used in New York courts. Irrelevant, unreliable or repetitive evidence is excluded.
• Evidence "may include … witness testimony, documents and objects," including "affidavits or affirmations, business records or government records, photographs and other documents."
• TLC has the burden of proving the facts in the summons by a preponderance of the evidence (more likely than not). If you raise an affirmative defense, you have to prove that defense the same way.

Two practical rules follow from §6-11: you can't usually add material after the hearing unless the hearing officer allows it, and only OATH's recording is the official record. Plan to have everything ready on the day.

Always bring

By type of charge

Passenger complaints, refusals and fares

These cases are often your word against a passenger's, so records decide them. See responding to a passenger complaint.

• Trip records from the app or base: request time, pickup and drop-off, route, fare, cancellation reason.
• Receipts and meter data, including tolls and surcharges, for fare disputes.
• In-app messages with the passenger.
• Dashcam video or audio, if you have it and it was lawfully recorded. See dashcams in TLC vehicles.

For TLC complaints where the complaining witness's credibility matters, TLC must produce that witness in person or remotely, or explain its efforts (48 RCNY §5-02).

Traffic and safety charges

• Dashcam video, plus photos of the location, signs, signals and road markings.
• The outcome of any related traffic ticket. If a related ticket was dismissed elsewhere, bring the decision.
• Trip records showing where you were and when.
• Proof of a completed Point Reduction or Defensive Driving Course, if points are at stake. TLC requires proof of when the course was taken and that it was completed (§80-27(a)(5)).

Vehicle and equipment charges

• Registration, FH-1 insurance card (for-hire vehicles) and inspection reports.
• Repair receipts with dates, and photos of the fixed equipment.
• The defect notice you received, if any.

See TLC vehicle, equipment and inspection summonses.

License and unlicensed-activity charges

• License renewal status and history from TLC UP.
• Proof that any suspension was lifted (fine paid, drug test done, course completed).
• The vehicle's TLC license and your base affiliation.
• Dispatch records showing a trip was prearranged through a licensed base.

Witnesses

• Name and phone number of anyone who saw what happened.
• A signed, dated statement from each. A live witness is usually stronger, so ask whether they can join the hearing. See witnesses at an OATH hearing.

If you're asking for a lower penalty

Even when the facts aren't in dispute, documents can matter. For TLC summonses, a hearing officer may reduce a penalty "in the interest of justice" (except for Admin Code §19-507). In deciding, the officer weighs factors such as the circumstances of the violation, the harm caused, your history and character, and the effect of the full penalty on you (48 RCNY §5-06(c)). Records that speak to those factors can be relevant: a clean driving record, proof the problem was fixed, or proof of financial hardship. TLC can re-impose the full penalty within 20 business days, so treat any reduction as possible, not promised. See can a hearing officer reduce my TLC fine?

Where to get each record

Hearings by phone, online or mail

How you deliver documents depends on your hearing method; see OATH hearings for TLC drivers. For a written online or mail defense, OATH's rule §6-10 says your submission must include your denials, admissions and explanations for each charge, plus the documents, exhibits or witness statements you want considered. Charges you don't deny or explain "will be deemed to have been admitted," and defenses you don't raise are waived. Online submissions must arrive on or before the hearing date. Mailed ones must be received, or postmarked, before it. See written defense online.

Organize it like a pro

1. One folder per summons. Put the summons number on everything.
2. Number each document and keep a one-line list: "1. Uber trip receipt, 3/14, 6:02 pm."
3. Write your timeline last, using the documents to get the times right.
4. Keep originals. Send copies, and keep the original video files untouched.

Organizing it with TLC Help

In your TLC Help portal, each case has its own checklist. You can upload photos straight from your phone, and your lawyer sees them immediately. Our free document checklist tool builds a list for your type of summons.