TLC License Suspended? First Steps for NYC Drivers

Stop driving for hire today. A suspended TLC license means you cannot legally pick up any passenger — not a street hail, not an app trip, not a base job. Then work out why you were suspended, because each kind of suspension ends in a different way. Some end the day you pay a fine. Some end only when you finish a course or test. Some can be challenged at a fast hearing, but only if you ask within 10 or 15 days.

This guide helps you sort your situation into one of six types and tells you the first step for each. When you know your type, the step-by-step guide on how to lift a TLC suspension takes you the rest of the way.

Step 1: Do not drive — the risk is real

TLC Rule 80-11(a) says a driver must not operate a taxi, for-hire vehicle or street hail livery while the TLC license is revoked, suspended or expired. The penalty box lists $350 for a first violation, $500 for a second within 36 months, and revocation for a third (TLC Rule Book, Chapter 80). Rule 80-02(a) also treats driving on a suspended license as unlicensed activity, which can lead to vehicle seizure under the Administrative Code. See the rule page for 80-11(a)(1).

Summonses citing this rule have become much more common in recent years, according to the official OATH case data:

Step 2: Find out which suspension you have

TLC must tell you in writing. Look at the notice or letter. If you lost it, call the TLC Licensee Information Hotline at (718) 391-5501 (option 2 checks license status), or email the TLC Prosecution Unit at Prosecutioninquiries@tlc.nyc.gov — TLC says this unit answers questions about "reasons for suspension, case status, penalties or documentations required" (Contact TLC).

Use this quick sorter to match the notice to a type:

The six kinds of TLC suspension, side by side

All of these come from TLC's enforcement rules in Chapter 68 and the driver rules in Chapter 80.

Unpaid fine

TLC fines are due 30 days after you are found guilty or plead guilty. If a fine is not paid by the close of business on the due date, TLC notifies you in writing that your license will be suspended in 10 business days until the fine is paid, unless you show TLC — in person or in writing — that it was already paid (Rule 68-02(c)). OATH confirms that for vehicle-for-hire cases "all payments must be made to TLC directly" (OATH). The full rule is explained in paying TLC fines.

Pending compliance

Some rules carry the penalty "suspension until compliance." Examples in Chapter 80 include missing your annual drug test window (80-14(d)), driving without a valid DMV chauffeur's license (80-11(c)), and not producing records TLC asks for (80-12(i)). Under Rule 68-16 the suspension starts immediately if the notice is handed to you, or five days after mailing if it is mailed. Once you comply and pay any fines, TLC reinstates you.

Pending revocation or criminal charges

These are the serious ones. The TLC Chair can suspend right away if continued licensing is believed to be a "direct and substantial threat to public health or safety" — for example a positive drug test, impaired driving, fraud, threats, physical force or a weapon (Rule 68-15). The summary suspension guide walks through the hearing clock in detail. Because a license revocation may follow, this is when a lawyer matters most.

Penalty and points suspensions

A suspension in an OATH decision takes effect when the decision is issued. The most common source is the Persistent Violator Program: 6 to 9 TLC and/or DMV points within 15 months can bring a suspension of up to 30 days (Rule 80-27(a)(1)). Read Persistent Violator points to learn how a course taken in time can cut three points.

Deferred suspensions you can still avoid

Some penalties include a suspension that waits 60 days. For a phone-use conviction under 80-14(g)(1), you avoid the suspension if you finish the Distracted Driving Portable Electronic Device Course within 60 days. Third-in-15-months traffic convictions under 80-13(a)(1) and (2) work the same way with the Vision Zero and Accessibility Remedial course. Miss the 60 days and the suspension becomes real.

Step 3: Write down your dates

Put every date from your notice in one place: when it was mailed, when you got it, the hearing date, and the 10- or 15-day request deadline. Rule 68-15 and 68-16 count calendar days, so weekends count. If you cannot work out a date, our summons deadline calculator helps, and the TLC fitness hearing guide explains what happens if TLC also questions whether you are fit to hold a license.

Common mistakes that make a suspension worse

• Driving "just one more shift." A new 80-11(a) summons adds a fine, and a third one means revocation.
• Letting someone else use your login. Rule 80-11(e) bans using another driver's TLC license or app login, or letting someone use yours. The listed penalty is a $10,000 fine and revocation.
• Ignoring the mail. TLC can serve summonses and notices by first-class mail to the last mailing address on file (Rule 68-05). Rule 80-12(i)(3) requires you to report a new mailing or email address within ten days. If you moved and didn't tell TLC, you may miss a short deadline without knowing it.
• Paying the wrong agency. TLC penalties are paid to TLC, not to OATH or the Department of Finance.
• Waiting for the hearing to fix a compliance problem. If the issue is a missed drug test or a missing document, fixing it is usually faster than any hearing.

Step 4: Get help where it counts

For unpaid fines and simple compliance problems, you can often fix things yourself at TLC's Long Island City office (31-00 47th Avenue, 3rd floor), open Monday to Friday 8am–4pm for cashier services (TLC Locations). For summary suspensions, fitness cases and anything tied to an arrest, talk to a lawyer before you file anything. What you write can be used at the hearing.

This page is general information, not legal advice.