Private hire licence backlog monitor 2025

The London Assembly Transport Committee has written to Transport for London (TfL) to request weekly updates as part of efforts to tackle a backlog of private hire vehicle (PHV) licence applications. The private hire vehicle (PHV) licence backlog monitor tracks TfL’s progress in addressing these delays.  

In its letter to TfL Commissioner, Andy Lord, the Committee requests weekly updates on: 

• The number of licence renewal applications that need to be processed, where TfL has all the information needed from the driver, and the number of these who currently have temporary licences. 

• The number of licence renewal applications where TfL is waiting for additional information from the drivers. 

• The number of unprocessed emails in TfL’s Taxi and Private Hire licencing inbox. 

• The number of new licence applications outstanding. 

The following charts track the number of PHV and taxi driver licence applications being processed by TfL from 30 June 2025.

The figures show that the number of completed PHV driver applications with TfL for processing showed some improvement at the end of July but has since increased, reaching 337 applications awaiting review as of 5 September 2025. 

Note: The data in these charts refers to PHV drivers with expired licences only.