FHV Vehicle Penalty Points: The 4-Point Revocation Rule

In short: Some TLC violations add a penalty point to an FHV vehicle license (the owner's license, not the driver's). Under rule §59A-35, four points during one license term means revocation. Points for a violation that happened before you renewed still count after the renewal. In the current rule book, five owner violations carry one point each, and most are about letting the car be dispatched without the right license, plates or driver.

Vehicle penalty points are not DMV points and not TLC driver points. They belong to whoever holds the FHV license: the car owner, a company, or the person a car is leased from. If you rent a TLC car, these points land on the owner, but the violation is often about you, so it helps to understand them.

The rule in plain words

Rule §59A-35 has five parts:

1. Four points = revocation. "The License of any For-Hire Vehicle that accumulates four penalty points for violations during any License term will be revoked."
2. Points follow the renewal. If a point is imposed after renewal for a violation that happened before it, the point is added to the pre-renewal total. If that makes four or more, the license is revoked.
3. How revocation happens. The Chairperson can start revocation proceedings once a license has four or more points in the current term, and the license can also be revoked in the same decision that imposes the fourth point. If a base license is also being revoked because of the same incident, the two cases are heard separately.
4. Point reduction. The rule says the Chairperson "will develop a point reduction program" for vehicles and bases. It does not say one exists.
5. Start date. No points for violations before August 1, 2009.

Which violations carry a point

We searched chapter 59A for every penalty that lists points. These are all of them in the version updated February 27, 2026:

Notice the pattern: four of the five are about who and what gets dispatched. An owner who lets someone else drive the car is responsible for checking that driver's TLC license and chauffeur's license. TLC posts lists of valid drivers and vehicles online, and the rules say so (59A-11(a)(2) and (b)(2)).

The inspection sticker rule is the odd one out, and it is easy to break by accident: the sticker must have eight months or more left, not just be unexpired. See the 59A-29(c) violation page.

How a point can end a license: an example

Here is how the math works over one two-year term (the dates are an illustration, not a real case):

• Month 3: A leasing driver's chauffeur's license is suspended by DMV; the car is dispatched anyway. The owner is found in violation of 59A-11(c): $100 and 1 point.
• Month 9: The DMV inspection sticker has only six months left at an on-street inspection. 59A-29(c): $100, suspension until fixed, 1 point (total 2).
• Month 20: The plates are replaced after a theft and the car is dispatched before the new T&LC plates are on. 59A-11(a)(1)(i): $350, 1 point (total 3).
• Month 24: The owner renews.
• Month 26: A hearing decides a summons from month 22 (before renewal) under 59A-11(b). That point is added to the pre-renewal total of 3, making 4. The license is revoked under §59A-35(b)(2).

The lesson: renewing does not wipe the slate if older summonses are still open.

What it means for the base

Bases have their own point system in §59B-35:

• TLC notifies the base by mail whenever an affiliated vehicle gets a penalty point.
• The base gets one point whenever an affiliated vehicle's license is revoked for points.
• The base gets one point if TLC has to draw on its $5,000 surety bond to pay unpaid penalties (§59B-04(e)).
• Six points in a base license term means revocation of the base license. Points imposed after a base renewal for earlier violations also carry over.

So your points also matter to your base, and a base may end an affiliation. A base can terminate an affiliation by a signed agreement or by certified mail to the owner (§59B-25(d)); you then have to find another base, and 60 days without one can lead to non-use revocation.

Can you check your points?

TLC's Licensed Green Cab page has a link labelled "For-Hire Vehicle Owners with Points" under "Summonses for TLC Vehicle Licensees." When we opened it on October 12, 2026, it led to a French-language TLC license guide, not a list of owners with points. Until TLC fixes the link:

• check your open summonses in LARS and your license status in TLC UP;
• ask the issuing agency or OATH for the decision on each summons, which says whether points were imposed;
• email LicensingInquiries@tlc.nyc.gov to ask for your vehicle license's point total.
• keep every decision in one folder, with the violation date, so you can count points per license term yourself.

Defending a point-bearing summons

Points come from a decision on a summons, usually at OATH. Because a fourth point can mean losing a license that TLC may not reissue (new licenses are WAV-only; see the FHV license cap), treat every point-bearing summons as serious:

• Do not just pay a point-bearing summons without understanding the points; paying generally means accepting the violation and the penalty that comes with it.
• Gather proof of what you knew: the driver's TLC license status on the dispatch date, lease records, plate replacement dates, inspection sticker dates.
• Talk to a lawyer if you already have two or three points. This page explains the rules; it is not legal advice.

Related reading: renewing TLC plates, TLC plates for FHVs, can I work while my FHV renewal is pending? and the vehicles hub.