Passenger Bill of Rights: What It Means for Drivers

In short: the Passenger Bill of Rights is a list of promises to riders, and almost every promise is backed by a TLC rule that a driver can be fined for breaking. The yellow taxi list has 16 rights and the green taxi list has 18. The ones with the heaviest penalties or the trickiest rules are refusals (including trips to Westchester, Nassau and Newark Airport), phone use (even hands-free), route, card payment and asking for tips.

TLC publishes the yellow taxi bill of rights on its website in English and 11 other languages (Spanish, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Korean, Polish, Punjabi, Russian and Urdu), so passengers can check it in their own language. This page translates each right into what you must actually do, the rule in chapter 80, and the fine where the rule book gives one. Rights are quoted from TLC's yellow and green pages as read on October 12, 2026.

The yellow taxi list, right by right

Some rows link the right to the closest rule; a summons may cite a different subsection depending on the facts. Fines are what chapter 80 prints; repeat violations and some rules carry extra penalties.

The rights with the biggest consequences

Destinations outside the city. The right to go to "any destination in NYC, Westchester, Nassau or Newark Airport" comes straight from rule 80-20(a)(1). Refusals carry mandatory penalties under 80-02(e): $350 if you plead guilty or $500 after a hearing for a first violation; a second within 24 months is $700 or $1,000 and a possible suspension of up to 30 days; a third within 36 months means revocation. There is one exception in 80-20(b)(8): you may decline a trip to Newark Airport, Nassau or Westchester if you have been operating the vehicle for more than eight hours of any continuous 24-hour period. Be able to show it with your trip records. The service refusal rules guide lists every lawful reason.

The phone. The bill of rights says "hand-held or hands-free," and the rule agrees. Rule 80-14(g)(1) allows a device only "while the Vehicle is lawfully standing or parked," and chapter 80 defines using a device to include having a hands-free device "in or near the ear." A conviction also requires a distracted-driving course within 60 days.

E-ZPass. Passengers have the right to "pay the E-ZPass toll rate." That is why rule 80-15(d) says you must not operate for hire without an E-ZPass tag and must use it at MTA crossings and wherever E-ZPass is accepted. Who pays which toll on a trip is a separate question covered in our tolls section.

Tips. "Decide whether to tip and how much" means you can't hint. Rule 80-17(a)(6) bans asking for a tip "or indicat[ing] that a tip is expected or required."

Route. Rule 80-16(a) requires "the shortest reasonable route" unless the passenger asks for a different one, and you must follow reasonable routing requests.

Duties behind the list that passengers don't see

Some rules that protect passengers are not spelled out on the poster but come up in the same complaints:

• Receipts. At the end of a taxi trip you must offer a receipt and give one on request. Rule 80-16(d) says it must show the date, time, medallion number, trip number, fare, tolls, surcharges, extras, a card tip, the last four card digits, your hack license number and the 311 complaint number. Fine: $50 if you plead guilty, $75 after a hearing, and 1 point.
• Your name and license number. Rule 80-16(g) requires you to give a passenger your name, TLC license number and medallion or vehicle license number on a reasonable request ($100 plea / $200 after a hearing).
• Passengers with disabilities. You must not require an attendant (80-20(a)(2)) and must not charge extra for a disability, service animal, wheelchair or attendant (80-17(a)(3)-(4)). These carry the same mandatory penalties as refusals.

Lawful reasons to decline that the poster doesn't mention

The bill of rights reads like an absolute promise, but rule 80-20(b) lists situations where a driver may decline. Three of them: the out-of-city trip after more than eight hours of driving in a continuous 24-hour period (80-20(b)(8)); a passenger who is disorderly or intoxicated (80-20(b)(9)), with TLC's warning that you must not refuse "solely because of behavior caused by a person's disability"; and a passenger who keeps smoking after you ask them to stop (80-20(b)(10)). If you rely on any exception, write down the time, place and what happened right away; notes made at the time are often the only evidence you will have at a hearing.

What's different in a green cab

For green cab drivers, the fare-quote right matches rule 80-17(a)(2): on a pre-arranged trip you must not charge more than the rate or quote the base gave, unless the passenger changed the destination. The closest rule to the no-sharing right is 80-19(c)(3), which says an FHV driver must not require a passenger to share a ride ($100). For taxis picking up a second party mid-trip, see can a taxi pick up another passenger mid-trip.

Pre-shift checklist

When a passenger complains

TLC's bill of rights pages tell passengers to use 311 or the online complaint form if they feel a right was violated, and to take their receipt. A complaint can become a summons heard at OATH. How that works, and how to respond, is in the passenger complaint process and responding to a passenger complaint. Being asked for your name and license number is part of this: see do I have to show my TLC license when asked.

Drivers have rights too. If a passenger threatens or attacks you, call 911 and report it to TLC victim services (inclusion@tlc.nyc.gov). For discrimination by the companies you work for, see NYC Human Rights Law for drivers. Lease drivers' own bill of rights, with fleet lease caps, is explained in taxi lease caps, and an overview is in know your rights. New to the job? The immigrant drivers' guide and the TLC requirements text decoder help with the paperwork side. More on the passengers topic page.