What If I Miss My TLC Vehicle Inspection Appointment?

If you drive a for-hire vehicle (FHV) and arrive more than one hour after your Woodside appointment time, TLC treats it as missed: your base has to request a new appointment, and the missed slot counts as your first of four tries to pass. That is from TLC's FHV Inspection Guide. For a yellow cab or green cab, the risk is different: a cab not inspected on its scheduled date is suspended until it is inspected, and fines grow the longer it waits.

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The one-hour rule, in TLC's words

TLC's FHV Inspection Guide says: "If you do not arrive within one hour of your scheduled inspection time, your base will need to request a new appointment. Your missed appointment will be considered your first attempt at passing and you will have only three attempts left."

Two things follow:

1. You cannot just show up the next day. The appointment comes through your base and TLC Licensing. Watch your email and the Licensee Snapshot in TLC UP for the new date.
2. Missing costs you a try. The rules allow four inspections in the window — 60 days for a new license (§59A-04(e)(3)) and 120 days for a renewal (§59A-04(f)(2)). Miss once and fail once, and you are down to two.

Also bring the vehicle registration and a valid TLC or state driver license. The guide says if you forget either, "your vehicle will not be inspected" — which can waste the trip in the same way.

Late penalties for yellow and green cabs

The rule says these penalties are cumulative and a hearing appearance is required. Summons counts by year are on the §58-29(b) and §82-30(b) pages.

TLC's inspections page does not currently publish a missed-appointment procedure for yellow or green cabs, so contact the inspections unit at inspections@tlc.nyc.gov as soon as you know you will miss it. Yellow cab owners can check their scheduled Woodside dates on TLC's Medallion Taxi Initial Inspection Schedule (Open Data); TLC says the schedule is tentative and is also on your last Vehicle Inspection Report and the back of your rate card.

Before the next appointment

• Fix what you can now. About one FHV in four fails its first licensing inspection (TLC reports a 23–26% initial failure rate since 2022). Use the checklist in our TLC vehicle inspection guide.
• Know the hours and what to bring: Woodside inspection facility guide.
• Renewal timing: FHV vehicle license renewal explains the 60-day late renewal window, which is separate from the 120-day inspection window.
• Points: some owner violations add vehicle penalty points; 4 in a license term can mean revocation. See FHV vehicle penalty points.
• Owner duties every day: FHV owner daily duties.
• Car registered out of state? Your 10-day inspection window for a new license starts when TLC accepts the application: registering a TLC vehicle in NJ, PA or CT.

This explains TLC's published rules; it is not legal advice. If you already have a summons, you can respond to it at OATH.