TLC License Revocation: Causes, Appeals & Reapplying

Revocation is the end of your TLC license, not a pause. A suspended license comes back when the suspension ends. A revoked license does not — you have to surrender it, wait out a ban, and apply again as a new applicant. That is why the time to act is before the decision: when the summons or notice first warns that revocation is possible.

TLC's rules must warn you. Under Rule 68-06, a summons has to say so if a guilty finding will result in revocation (mandatory revocation) or could result in revocation (discretionary revocation) (TLC Chapter 68). If you see that warning, treat the case as serious.

Four roads to revocation

Mandatory revocation

Some penalty boxes in Chapter 80 list revocation outright. Examples:

• Driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs — Rule 80-14(b): revocation.
• A weapon in the vehicle without the Chair's written permission — Rule 80-15(a): revocation.
• Letting someone use your TLC license or app login, or using someone else's — Rule 80-11(e): $10,000 and revocation.
• Bribery of a TLC employee, a public servant, or airport and terminal staff — Rule 80-12(a): $10,000 and revocation.
• Sexual contact while working as a licensee — Rule 80-12(p): $2,000 and mandatory revocation.
• Overcharging by $10 or more above the approved fare or quoted price — Rule 80-02(e)(1): revocation.

Repeat-offense schedules also end in revocation. Under Rule 80-02(e), a third refusal or overcharging violation within 36 months brings revocation. A third violation of Rule 80-11(a) (driving while your TLC license is suspended, revoked or expired) brings revocation too. Rule 80-02(e)(2) says these 24- and 36-month windows are counted backwards from the date of the last violation. Reckless driving under Rule 80-14(a) can bring revocation if you are found guilty more than three times in 18 months.

Discretionary revocation

For any rule, the TLC Chair can ask for revocation instead of the listed penalty — but only after deciding that your continued licensing "presents a threat to public health, safety, or welfare." The case must be brought before the OATH Tribunal, the summons must warn you, and the judge's decision is only a recommended decision. The Chair then accepts, changes or rejects it (Rules 68-13 and 68-10). Before the Chair decides, you get a chance to send a written response, limited to the hearing record and the judge's findings (Rule 68-10(a)).

Fitness revocation

If TLC believes you are not "Fit to Hold a License," it can start a fitness case. The grounds and the process are long enough for their own page: see TLC fitness hearings.

Persistent Violator revocation

The Persistent Violator Program adds up TLC points and DMV points. 6 to 9 points in 15 months means a suspension of up to 30 days; 10 or more means revocation (Rule 80-27(a)(1)). If several violations come from one incident, only the one with the highest points counts. A Point Reduction Course or a DMV-approved Defensive Driving Course finished before the persistent violator summons is decided can take off three points; finishing it after a revocation does not change the decision (Rule 80-27(a)(5)).

The official OATH data shows how often revocation-level points summonses are written since the current numbering began in 2023:

Suspended now, revocation later?

In the most serious cases, TLC does not wait for the revocation hearing. Under Rule 68-15 the Chair can summarily suspend your license right away — for example after a positive drug test or an arrest for a listed crime — and the revocation case follows. If no revocation hearing is scheduled within 15 days, you have only 10 calendar days from receiving the notice to ask for a summary suspension hearing. The summary suspension guide explains that clock. If you are suspended and don't yet know what kind, start with TLC license suspended: what to do. The points-based suspension tier has its own rule page: 80-27(a)(1)(i).

Your rights before the decision

• Notice. The summons must state the conduct charged and warn about revocation (Rule 68-06).
• A hearing. Mandatory-revocation charges are heard at OATH. Discretionary and fitness cases are heard by an OATH Administrative Law Judge, whose decision is a recommendation.
• Affirmative defenses. In discretionary revocation hearings, the defenses in Administrative Code §19-512.1(b) are available (Rule 68-13(b)(5)). For Persistent Violator charges, it is a defense that the act was beyond your control (Rule 80-27(a)(6)).
• A written response to a recommended decision before the Chair decides (Rule 68-10).
• Settlement. TLC and a driver can settle charges that could lead to revocation, and the written agreement can set a different waiting period before you may reapply (Rule 80-08(c)(4)).

Appealing a revocation

Which appeal applies depends on who made the final decision:

• An OATH hearing officer's decision (most mandatory-revocation and points cases) → appeal to the OATH Appeals Unit within 30 days of the decision, or 35 days if it was mailed (OATH). See appealing an OATH decision. While the appeal is pending, TLC can, at its discretion, issue a temporary license if the decision suspended you (Rule 68-07).
• The TLC Chair's final decision imposing discretionary revocation → written appeal to the TLC Commissioners, filed with the Deputy Commissioner for Legal Affairs/General Counsel within 30 calendar days. The Commissioners review only legal issues and whether the decision is supported by substantial evidence, and it takes at least five votes to change the decision (Rule 68-11).

After revocation: surrender and the waiting period

Rule 80-10(f) says you must surrender your license immediately upon revocation, and within 30 days at the latest. If you don't, a $1,000 fine is charged if you ever apply for a new TLC license.

The three-year ban also applies if your license expired or you surrendered it while revocation charges were pending (Rule 80-08(c)(1)(iv)(A)) — letting a license lapse does not avoid it. When the waiting period ends, you apply as a new driver; see TLC license reinstatement.

This page is general information, not legal advice. Revocation cases have short deadlines and long consequences. Talk to a lawyer as soon as you see a revocation warning.