How to Open a For-Hire Base in NYC (TLC Base License)

In short: To open a for-hire base in NYC you need a TLC base license. You clear all fines, reserve a business name, send TLC an application with a $5,000 surety bond, ownership papers, a business lease, rate schedule and workers' compensation proof, get every owner fingerprinted, pay the fee ($500 a year under rule 59B-07), and affiliate at least 10 vehicles (or 5 if one is wheelchair accessible). Livery bases also need City Council and community board review. After you open, you must send trip records every month, meet the wheelchair-accessible service rules and follow TLC's base agreement and driver-pay rules.

This is an owner's guide. If you are a driver joining a base, read FHV base affiliation instead. Steps below are from TLC's black car base and livery base pages and TLC Rules chapter 59, read on October 12, 2026. Luxury limousine bases have their own TLC page; check it for differences.

Base types

Rule 59B-03 defines four kinds of for-hire base:

• Black car base: all trips pre-arranged; more than 90% of business paid other than by cash from the passenger; all vehicles owned by franchisees of the base or members of a cooperative that runs it.
• Livery base (base station): pre-arranged trips in vehicles built for fewer than six passengers, charged by flat rate, time, mileage or zones.
• Luxury limousine base: pre-arranged, up to 20 seats, more than 90% non-cash, charged "garage to garage".
• High-Volume For-Hire Service: a base dispatching more than 10,000 trips a day. TLC licenses two: Lyft and Uber.

Step by step

What TLC looks at before it says yes

TLC can turn down an application for reasons that are written into the rules. Knowing them helps you avoid a lost fee, since fees are not refunded.

• Honesty on the application. TLC can deny or later revoke a license for a "material misstatement or misrepresentation" on an application (59B-08(a)).
• Franchise law (black car). TLC will not license or renew a base that sells franchises in violation of the New York Franchise Sales Act (59B-08(b)). This is why black car applicants file their franchise approval from the Attorney General, or a co-op agreement.
• Deadlines. A new black car or luxury limousine application is denied if it is not complete within 90 days of filing. A livery application is denied if the base does not finish all licensing steps within 90 days of Commission approval (59B-08(g)).
• Fitness. Every owner must show they are fit to hold a license (59B-04(i)). TLC may ask for more information or an interview; missing a requested interview leads to denial (59B-08(h)).
• Livery-only review. For a new livery base station, TLC weighs the effect on mass transit and existing taxi and car services, and on traffic, sidewalk crowding and noise near the base (59B-08(d)). A livery base whose earlier license was revoked for Livery Fund violations cannot get a new one for five years and until the money is paid or a payment plan is agreed (59B-08(f)).

The livery business plan

A livery base must file a business plan with each new or renewal application (59B-05(d)). It covers your contact details and 24-hour phone number; how you will keep your cars to pre-arranged trips and stop them from taking street hails; how you will prevent repeat violations; your off-street parking location and how far it is from the base; how many vehicles you expect; the requests and trips you expect each day; how calls, dispatch and complaints are handled; your hours; and your rate schedule. Be realistic: at renewal you report actual numbers against these.

Fees and term

A new license runs three years from the last day of the month it is issued. Renew at least 60 days before it expires; if you file on time, the license stays in effect while TLC reviews it. After the expiration date, TLC will not accept a renewal at all (59B-06).

Duties once you are open

• Trip records every month. All licensed for-hire bases must send trip records to TLC electronically each month, through TLC UP or FTP (TLC FHV page).
• Wheelchair accessible service. Equivalent service, plus either 25% of trips by WAV or the accessible dispatcher exception. See the WAV trip mandate.
• Driver money rules. A written base agreement, only listed fees, pay within one week, receipts and three-year records. See base agreement rules, how fast must my base pay me? and what receipts must my base give me?.
• Driving-hour limits. Do not dispatch a driver for more than 10 hours of passenger time in 24 hours (reset after 8 hours off) or 60 hours in a Monday–Sunday week; $200 per dispatch over the limit (59B-18(e)).
• Conduct rules. Write rules for your drivers and send them to TLC within seven business days of creating or changing them (59B-18(a)). Keep drivers from double parking, blocking driveways or repairing cars on the street near your base (59B-18(b)).
• Dispatch only licensed drivers and cars. A base must not dispatch a vehicle unless its driver has a valid TLC Driver License: $500 for the first violation in 12 months, $800 after that (violation 59B-11(c)(1)). Dispatching a vehicle without a valid FHV license and TLC plates is a $300 fine plus a penalty point (59B-11(b)). Check drivers and vehicles with TLC's daily lists, explained in TLC Open Data lookups and how to find which base a TLC car belongs to.

Between about 350 and 430 bases reported trips each month in 2024 and 2025, while TLC licensed 791 bases at the end of 2025. A licensed base that dispatches nothing has no trips to report.

Mistakes that cost money or the license

High-volume bases also have the Green Rides electric-vehicle trip targets; see Green Rides EV trip statistics. How long a driver license takes is a separate question: how long does it take to get a TLC license?. The short definition of a base is in our glossary.