DMV Points and Your TLC License: Getting and Keeping It

DMV points touch your TLC license at three moments. When you apply, TLC can turn you down if you have 6 or more DMV points from convictions in the last 15 months. While you're licensed, DMV points and TLC points are added together under TLC's Persistent Violator Program — 6–9 in 15 months brings a suspension of up to 30 days, 10+ brings revocation. And if the DMV suspends your driver license, you can't drive for hire at all and TLC summarily suspends your TLC license. This guide follows those three moments, with the DMV's February 2026 changes built in.

Sources: TLC rule §80-27; DMV point system.

Moment 1: applying for a TLC license

TLC's licensing page says you may have no more than 5 points on your DMV license within a 15-month period, counted back from your most recent conviction. The rule behind it is §80-08(c)(3)(ii): TLC can deny an applicant who, if licensed, would immediately be suspended or revoked under the Persistent Violator Program, looking at DMV points accrued in the 15 months before the application.

What that means in practice:

• Check your DMV abstract before paying the non-refundable $252 fee (TLC fee as of October 12, 2026). If you have 6 or more points from recent convictions, wait or take action first.
• A defensive driving course may help. TLC's point-credit rule lets it subtract 3 DMV points once every 18 months (defensive driving guide). Whether TLC applies that credit at the application stage isn't spelled out in the rule — ask TLC before you rely on it.
• Unpaid tickets block you too. Separately from points, you must pay outstanding DMV Traffic Violations Bureau, NYC parking and camera, and TLC fines before you're licensed (§80-04(n)).
• Out-of-state license: you send a driving abstract covering at least 2 years (§80-04(d)), and TLC counts points from your state's licensing agency — the 2023 rule defines "DMV Points" as points from the New York DMV or the equivalent agency of your state of residence.

More on the whole application: how to get a TLC license.

Moment 2: while you're licensed

Since June 9, 2023, TLC no longer runs a separate "Critical Driver Program" for DMV points. A rule package folded it into the Persistent Violator Program, which now adds TLC points and DMV points together (NYC Rules). Older websites that describe two separate programs are out of date.

How TLC counts (rule §80-27):

• Points count from the date of conviction, within a 15-month window counted back from your most recent conviction.
• If several violations come from one incident, TLC counts only the one with the highest points.
• The penalty is imposed after a hearing on a Persistent Violator summons, on top of the penalties for the underlying tickets.
• It is an affirmative defense that the act behind the violation was beyond your control and influence (§80-27(a)(6)).

Where the points come from

Some TLC summonses carry TLC points that mirror the DMV schedule. For example, TLC rule §80-13(a)(3) gives 3 points for a traffic signal or stop sign violation and 3 to 8 points for speeding depending on how far over the limit. On the DMV side, a phone or portable electronic device conviction is 5 points, failure to exercise due care is now 5 (it was 2), and speeding in a work zone is 8 (DMV, Feb 2026).

Because a single 5-point phone ticket plus one 3-point signal ticket already makes 8, two ordinary tickets can put a TLC license at risk. Run your own numbers in the points calculator, and read DMV points for TLC drivers for ticket-by-ticket strategy.

A quick example

Imagine a driver with a 5-point DMV phone conviction in February and a 4-point DMV tailgating conviction in November of the same year. Under the DMV's rules that is 9 points in 24 months — below its 11-point suspension level. Under TLC's rule it is 9 points in 15 months — enough for a Persistent Violator suspension of up to 30 days. One more 3-point conviction would make 12: DMV suspension territory, and TLC revocation territory. The same tickets mean very different things to the two agencies, which is why TLC drivers need to track their points by TLC's count.

Course credits

Before suspending or revoking, TLC subtracts 3 DMV points if you completed a DMV-approved defensive driving course (no more than once every 18 months) or 3 TLC points for TLC's Point Reduction Course (once every 5 years). The course must be finished before the Persistent Violator summons is decided; after that, it only counts once the suspension is served, and it never undoes a decision already made (§80-27(a)(5)). The DMV's own PIRP credit (−4 points for its suspension count) is a different rule (DMV PIRP).

Moment 3: when the DMV acts on your driver license

Your TLC license depends on a valid chauffeur's license. Under rule §80-11(c):

• You must not drive a taxi, FHV or street hail livery without a valid chauffeur's license, or while your New York driving privileges are suspended or revoked. TLC summarily suspends the TLC license of a driver who does. The listed penalty is $350 and suspension until compliance for a first violation, $500 for a second in 36 months, and revocation for a third.
• If the DMV revokes your chauffeur's license or driving privileges, you must immediately surrender your TLC license ($100 fine if you don't).

With the DMV's change to a 24-month look-back (from 18) and higher point values from February 16, 2026, it's easier to reach the DMV's 11-point suspension level than it used to be. Watch both counts.

What to do now

If you've already been revoked, read getting your TLC license back for the 3-year wait and the waiver option. For the rules of the program itself, see the Persistent Violator guide.