Extra Charges a Taxi Fleet Can and Can't Add to Your Lease

In short: On top of the lease, a taxi owner or fleet may charge you only the items listed in TLC Rule 58-21(c)(5). The rule says the owner "must not charge any tip, tax, surcharge or other fee of any kind" beyond the lease cap except those items. The most common ones are a credit card surcharge of up to $7 per shift or $49 per week, a late-return charge of up to $25 per hour, a gas surcharge only if the owner gives you all your fuel, a security deposit, the discounted E-ZPass toll when you use the owner's tag, and parking or red-light tickets you are allowed to challenge. Repairs, maintenance and tips are never allowed. Anything else is an overcharge, and a judge must order the owner to pay you back.

This page lists every extra. The lease amounts themselves are in NYC taxi lease caps. Rules checked October 12, 2026. This is general information, not legal advice.

Allowed and not allowed

The ones drivers ask about most

The credit card surcharge

Card fares belong to you. The owner must pay you all card money for the shift (daily drivers) or the week (weekly drivers) "at no cost to the Driver" (Rule 58-21(f)). The only card-related charge allowed is the processing surcharge: $7 per shift on a daily lease or $49 per week on a weekly lease. An owner who collects it "must ensure that a Driver is not charged any additional credit card charges", including charges from the technology provider, or must reimburse you (Rule 58-26(g)(3), $500 fine). For medallion-only and DOV leases the rule is less simple: Rule 58-21(c)(3)-(4) lists card fees as included in the lease, yet Rule 58-21(c)(5)(xi) also allows the $49 weekly surcharge on those leases, and TLC's DOV Driver Bill of Rights lists "credit card surcharge up to $49/week" as a permitted charge. The details and the history of this fee are in how much a taxi owner can charge for credit cards.

The gas surcharge

An owner may charge a gas surcharge only if it provides gasoline "for the entire shift at no additional cost" to you (Rule 58-21(c)(6)(i)). The amount is not free-form: TLC resets it twice a year from the New York City gasoline price index published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and the rule's table runs from $13 to $31 per shift depending on the index and the vehicle type. It cannot be added to medallion-only or DOV leases. How the table works is in the taxi gas surcharge. Check the current posted amount with TLC; we could not confirm it when this page was reviewed.

Late return

On a daily or weekly vehicle lease, a late-return charge can be no more than $25 per hour, and the total for one late return can never be more than the cost of one shift. The other side of this rule protects you: if the car is not ready because the previous driver was late, the owner must pro-rate your lease (Rule 58-21(c)(1)(vii)).

Tickets and summonses

• Parking tickets issued during your lease and red-light camera tickets issued to the owner during your lease can be passed to you, but you must be allowed to challenge them (Rule 58-21(c)(5)(vi), (e)(2)). Camera rules are in speed and red-light cameras.
• Any other summons written to the owner cannot be charged to you or taken from your deposit (Rule 58-21(e)(3)). Fines: $250, then $350, then $500 and/or medallion suspension, and the judge must order the owner to repay you.
• TLC fines the owner paid cannot be recovered from you as "damages", except fines caused by a sublease the rule bans, by a suspended or revoked driver on a medallion-only or DOV lease, by a missed inspection when the driver caused it and knew the date, or for a dirty cab under Rule 58-31(a) when the driver caused it (Rule 58-21(c)(5)(x)).

E-ZPass and the replenishment account

If you use the owner's E-ZPass, the passenger's toll money belongs to the owner, and you may be charged only the actual discounted toll (Rule 58-27). An owner may require a replenishment account of up to $10 per 12-hour shift, with a $100 maximum, and must return unused money within 30 days after your lease ends (Rule 58-27(d)(2)). See the E-ZPass replenishment account. You can also use your own tag; then you keep the toll money (Rule 58-27(c)).

Every charge needs a receipt

Rule 58-21(g) requires a written receipt for every payment or deduction. It must show your name, the medallion number, the date, who received the money, the amount, the purpose, and the number of the TLC rule section that allows the charge. A charge with no rule section on the receipt is a warning sign. The lease itself must itemize every cost and cite the rule that authorizes it (Rule 58-21(i)(2)-(3)), and it must tell you that overcharging is prohibited and that you can complain to TLC or 311.

What to do if you were overcharged

TLC says the Driver Protection Unit has helped drivers get back more than $3.2 million (Driver Protection Unit). If your lease is covered by a collective bargaining agreement that sets lease prices, the cap rules do not apply in the same way (Rule 58-21(c)(7)); read your agreement.

Mistakes that cost drivers money

• Paying cash "fees" with no receipt. Without a receipt it is hard to prove an overcharge.
• Accepting a deduction for a summons written to the medallion owner, such as an inspection or equipment ticket.
• Paying for an oil change or a tire because "the car needed it" on a daily lease.
• Not asking for the deposit back in writing when you leave. See taxi security deposit rules.

Drivers also must not mark up a passenger's card payment themselves: that is a driver violation under Rule 80-17(e)(1). Other money rules are on the money hub, and repairs are covered in can a taxi owner charge me for repairs?