Who's Who in NYC For-Hire: TLC, Apps, Bases, Fleets, Unions

In short: As a NYC driver you deal with four kinds of players. Regulators make and enforce the rules: mainly the TLC, with OATH deciding summonses, the DMV licensing your driving, and the Port Authority and MTA running airports, bridges, tunnels and tolls. Businesses licensed by TLC give you work or equipment: Uber and Lyft, black car, livery and limousine bases, medallion agents and brokers, meter shops, technology providers and e-hail apps. Funds pay certain benefits: the Black Car Fund, the Livery Fund and the Taxi Improvement Fund. And driver organizations and legal-help groups speak for drivers. This guide explains what each one does for you, with numbers from TLC's 2025 Annual Report, so you know who to call.

The regulators

TLC was "created by Local Law 12 of 1971" and is "a Charter-mandated agency." Its board has nine members, eight of whom are unsalaried; the Chair presides and heads the agency. TLC also sets fares and pay standards by rule, so its rule-making hearings are where drivers can testify. OATH is separate: TLC is the prosecutor, OATH is the judge. That matters because your hearing date, rescheduling and appeal all run through OATH, not TLC.

TLC's Board of Commissioners "holds regular public meetings to receive testimony on proposed rules and other issues of concern to licensees," and votes on rules and pilot programs. In 2025 it approved twelve rule packages, from driver pay and lockout protections to interior advertising and insurance minimums. Any driver can testify; the dates and proposed rules are posted ahead of time. If a rule will change your pay or your lease, that hearing is the place to be heard, before it takes effect.

Who writes your summons? In OATH's taxi and FHV data for 2021–2025, TLC wrote the large majority, Port Authority Police about 12%, and NYPD a few hundred:

Businesses TLC licenses

TLC's 2025 Annual Report counts, as of December 31, 2025:

• 2 High-Volume For-Hire Services (HVFHS): Lyft and Uber. TLC defines these as bases that dispatch more than 10,000 trips per day on average.
• 485 black car bases, 184 livery bases and 81 luxury limousine bases, plus 24 paratransit and 15 commuter van bases: 791 bases in all.
• 75 other businesses: 17 taxicab brokers (who help buy and sell medallions), 36 medallion agents (who operate medallions for owners), 10 meter shops, 3 meter manufacturers, 3 Technology Service Providers (the card readers, trip recorders and Taxi TVs in taxis and green cabs), 5 e-hail providers and 1 interior advertising provider.

TLC's live Open Data list of current bases gives a slightly different snapshot, because bases open, close and change type during the year:

Bases are where most FHV work flows. Every FHV trip must be dispatched by a licensed base, and TLC tallies the trips bases report each month:

Fleets and garages don't appear as their own business type in TLC's license counts. A taxi fleet is usually a medallion owner or agent leasing cabs to drivers; an FHV "fleet" is usually a vehicle owner renting TLC-plated cars. Taxi owners who lease cabs must follow TLC's lease caps, receipt and deposit rules and may not retaliate against a driver who complains to TLC (TLC taxi driver bill of rights). TLC's driver pay rules also require FHV owners who lease cars to drivers to use plain-language leases and give itemized receipts.

The funds behind your benefits

The Black Car Fund says that "for the purposes of Workers' Compensation, The Black Car Fund is your employer," and that its surcharge "may appear on your paycheck as a deduction" but "does not come out of your pay." The Livery Fund is described by the state Workers' Compensation Board. Taxi drivers are not in the Black Car Fund. TLC's taxi driver bill of rights says only that drivers "may file for Worker's Compensation if injured while working on the job as a taxi driver"; it does not name the insurer. See do yellow taxi drivers get BCF benefits.

Advocacy and help organizations

• New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA). On its own site, NYTWA says it was founded in 1998 and is "the 25,000-member strong union of yellow taxi, green cab, App-based, livery, and corporate black car drivers." Dues are $100 a year plus $3.30 processing. It lists services such as discount representation for DMV and TLC matters, free legal advice, classes and help applying for programs. Office: 31-10 37th Avenue, Suite 300, Long Island City; 718-706-9892.
• Independent Drivers Guild (IDG). Its site says it is a Machinists Union affiliate founded in 2016 and offers Uber and Lyft drivers deactivation representation, classes and benefits. It lists chapters in several states, including New York and New Jersey. The Black Car Fund's Drivers Benefits include the IDG Mental Health and Wellness Program.
• Free legal help listed by TLC: City Bar Justice Center, Legal Services NYC, New York Legal Assistance Group, The Legal Aid Society, LawHelpNY and the city's Office of Civil Justice (TLC Driver Resources).
• TLC's own help: the Owner/Driver Resource Center (free legal, financial counseling, benefits and wellness appointments) and the Driver Protection Unit (money disputes with owners, bases and apps).

We list only groups whose role we could confirm from their own or TLC's pages. Their positions on policy differ; we describe roles, not opinions. A fuller comparison: NYC driver unions and advocacy groups.

Who to call

Step by step: a problem, start to finish

Mistakes that cost drivers money or points

• Calling the app about a TLC summons. Uber and Lyft can't settle or dismiss it; TLC and OATH handle summonses.
• Thinking TLC runs your hearing. OATH does. Missing an OATH date can mean a default decision.
• Letting your DMV license lapse. TLC says drivers can't provide service unless both licenses are in good standing.
• Not enrolling in Drivers Benefits if you drive black car or app trips: some benefits only apply if you enrolled before an injury.
• Taking advice about a TLC rule from a base or fleet without checking it. Their interests and yours can differ. The rule books are free on nyc.gov, and TLC's Driver Protection Unit investigates lease overcharges.

Related: official websites for NYC drivers, top NYC FHV bases by trips, how many FHV bases are in NYC, history of the NYC taxi industry, TLC licensed vehicles statistics, year-end tax records for drivers and the rights topic.