Public Service Vehicles information
Public Service Vehicles are vehicles that carry passengers for a fee. They are separated into two categories:
Large Public Service Vehicle - LPSV
Vehicle capable of carrying more that eight passengers - Buses
LPSV Licences
LPSV Licences for both registering and operating Large Public Service
Vehicles are dealt with by An Garda Siochana.
Small Public Service Vehicle - SPSV
Vehicles capable of carrying eight passengers or less only - Taxi's, Hackney's and Limousines
In order to use a vehicle as a PSV there are two types of licence required:
- The driver must hold a PSV Drivers Licence - 'the driver's badge'
- The vehicle must be registered as a PSV and hold a PSV Licence
SPSV Drivers Licence - Drivers Badge
To obtain a PSV Drivers Licence you must apply to your local Garda Station between the
following dates: 1st and 14th of March, June, September and December
Applications made outside the above periods will not be processed.
In order to obtain a SPSV Drivers Licence the following are required:
- €3 PSV receipt issued by your local motor taxation office
- €12 PSV receipt issued by your local motor taxation office
Once a receipt is issued, the applicant goes to the Gardaí with the following:
- Full Irish Driving licence
- Two passport photographs
- Receipts for €15 & €3 issued by the Motor Tax Office
- Form PSV 15 & Appendix B form - available at the
Garda Station
- PSV Reference Form. Each application must have two letters of reference from referees as on Form PSV 15
- Tax Clearance certificate issued by the Revenue Commissioners. You must produce this certificate on the morning of the PSV examination.
If you are found to be suitable to drive public service vehicles you will be required to undergo a written examination
(approximately three months after applying for the licence.) You must pass this examination before the licence is granted.
It is essential that you have an adequate knowledge of the following as the examination consists of questions based on them:
- Driver Theory Test
- The area in which you propose to normally work as a driver of a Small Public Service Vehicle
- Road Traffic (Public Service Vehicles) Regulations insofar as they relate to drivers
and small public service vehicles. these regulations are known as S.I. 191 of 1963 and S.I. 316 of
1999 and they are available from the Government Publications Office, Sun Alliance House, Molesworth Street, Dublin 2. Tel.: 01-6476879.
These regulations are not available from the Gardai.
These licences are issued by the PSV Inspector and last for five years.
SPSV Licence - Vehicle Licence
The Commission for Taxi Regulation issues SPSV Vehicle Licences.
Vehicle licences are administered by National Care Testing Service Limited (NCTS) on behalf of the Commission.
The fees for SPSV Licences are as follows:
- New Taxi €6,300
- New Wheelchair Accessible Taxi €125
- New Hackney €250
- New Limousine €250
SPSV application forms are available from the National Car Testing Service (NCTS,)
contactable at 1890 927 977. Forms are also available from your local NCTS test centre.
New SPSV Licence - Vehicle Licence Applications
- Complete the appropriate application form and return it to the NCTS with the appropriate fee.
You will then be issued with a conditional offer.
- If you are applying for a Taxi licence, proceed to have the vehicle fitted out with a meter and roof-sign.
- Book an appointment to have the vehicle inspected at an NCTS test centre.
It can be presented at any of the 43 NCTS test centres, where it will be tested and assessed for suitability as a SPSV.
- Upon successful completion of the test, a licence will be granted when the application, together with the following
documents, have been inspected and passed by NCTS:
- A valid NCT certificate
- A valid SPSV insurance certificate in respect of the vehicle to be licenced
- A valid Tax Clearance Certificate in respect of the named applicant for this licence
(this can be obtained from your local revenue office or by visiting
www.revenue.ie)
Renewal of SPSV Licences
Six weeks in advance of renewal date, you will receive notification of the expiry date of your licence, together
with details of an appointment to renew. This appointment will be co-ordinated with your NCT vehicle test. A final
reminder will issue two weeks prior to the expiry date. This notice will inform you of
the consequences of not renewing. You will be able to renew your vehicle licence up to 12 weeks in advance of the expiry date.
Licences will only be renewed on production of:
- A valid NCT Certificate
- A valid SPSV insurance certificate in respect of the vehicle to be licenced
- A valid Tax Clearance Certificate in respect of the named applicant for this licence
- All Other Licensing Transactions
- All other licencing transactions (transfers, change of vehicle) will also be done through an NCTS
test centre and will require the production of the same documentation as outlined above
Contact details for the Commission for Taxi Regulation are as follows:
Commission for Taxi Regulation, 35 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin 2.
Telephone: (01) 6593800
Email: commission@taxiregulator.ie
Website: www.taxiregulator.ie
|