The SERU handbook is full of rules, and many SERU questions test the exact detail: how many days, which age, who is responsible. Here are 12 rules from the TfL PHV Driver’s Handbook that every new driver should know by heart.
Your licence and badge
1. Your licence normally lasts three years
A London PHV driver’s licence normally lasts for three years. If it is issued for a shorter period, the letter that comes with it will explain why. Keep your licence at home in a safe place and give a copy to any licensed operator you work with.
2. Wear your badge whenever you are working
You must wear your PHV driver’s badge whenever you are working as a PHV driver — including when you are waiting for a booking or travelling to pick up a passenger — and it must be clearly visible. The badge is for you only; you must never let anyone else use it.
3. Lost or stolen badge? Report it to TfL immediately
If your badge or licence is lost or stolen, report it to TfL immediately. If it was stolen, also report it to the police and get a crime reference number. Without your badge you cannot continue working.
4. Show your licence within seven days
If a police officer or TfL Authorised Officer asks to see your licence, you must show it there and then or within a maximum of seven days. If your licence is revoked, you must return it to TfL within seven days.
Keeping TfL informed
5. Change of address: tell TfL within 21 days
If you move home, tell TfL within 21 days. You should also tell TfL about a new email address or phone number, and by law you must tell the DVLA about your new address too.
6. Some changes must be reported immediately
You must tell TfL immediately if you are arrested, charged, convicted or cautioned for any crime (including fixed penalties and road traffic offences that give you penalty points), if you are disqualified from driving, or if you become the subject of a mental health order or sexual offences order. Do not rely on the police to tell TfL.
7. Medicals from age 45 and 65
From the age of 45 you need a medical examination each time you renew your licence. From the age of 65 you need one every year. If you develop a new medical condition that may affect your driving between examinations, tell TfL immediately.
On the road
8. Only carry out pre-booked journeys
You can only carry out bookings you have received from a licensed London PHV operator. You must not pick people up on the street, at stations or at airports unless they have booked through a licensed operator — and that includes the street outside your operator’s office.
9. Never stop on a taxi rank
PHVs must not park, wait, pick up or drop off passengers on a taxi rank, and must not use or park on electric taxi charging points. Doing so can lead to a fine and licensing action.
10. Red routes and cashpoints: 22:00–06:00, five minutes
You can pick up or drop off on single or double red lines, but you must not wait there. The one exception: between 22:00 and 06:00 you may stop on a red route for up to five minutes while a passenger uses a cashpoint.
11. Children under 14 are your responsibility
The driver is responsible for making sure all children under 14 wear a seatbelt or sit in an approved child car seat. If the right child seat is not available, children can travel without one only on a rear seat — with an adult seatbelt if they are 3 or older, and without a seatbelt if they are under 3.
Equality
12. Assistance dogs: no refusals, no extra charge
Under the Equality Act you must accept passengers with assistance dogs, let the dog sit in the footwell with the passenger, and never charge extra. Exemptions are only given for medical reasons, and you must display the exemption notice in your windscreen.
Test yourself on these rules
Our SERU section quizzes cover every part of the handbook, one section at a time, with no time limit.
Summarised from the TfL Private Hire Vehicle Driver’s Handbook (version 1.0). Always check the latest version on the TfL website.
