Short answer: you can rent a taxi in Ireland from a vehicle licence holder or a fleet, but only once you hold an SPSV driver licence. The holder insures the car and registers the rental with the NTA; you link yourself to the car before your first fare. Renting is how many new drivers start, because the NTA no longer issues new standard taxi licences.
Why renting is the usual way in
A taxi plate cannot be bought. The NTA Manual says a vehicle licence cannot be sold, and the NTA only accepts new vehicle licence applications for wheelchair accessible taxis and hackneys, local area hackneys and limousines. So a standard taxi stays with its licence holder, and the legal way to drive one is a rental agreement. The SPSV regulations allow it: a vehicle licence holder may rent the insured vehicle to another person. The difference between the two licences is in driver licence vs vehicle licence.
What the licence holder must do
- Own the car, or be entitled to use and possess it, and hold its vehicle licence.
- Provide SPSV insurance for the whole rental period.
- Notify the NTA of the rental online or on 0818 064 000, with the rental period, your SPSV driver licence number and the car’s registration.
- Make sure you are fully licensed, and keep a record of your name, address, phone number and licence details for NTA inspection.
- Keep booking the car’s inspections. The NTA deals only with the holder on licensing, even while the car is rented out.
What you must do as the driver
- Check the vehicle licence is current (the tamper-proof discs are on the front and rear windows) and the car is roadworthy and properly insured.
- Create a driver-to-vehicle link with the NTA before you drive: SPSV+ app, SPSV Online Services, SMS to 51444, or the SPSV Information Line. Regulation 51 of the 2015 SPSV Regulations requires it, and driving without the link is a criminal offence. Do it again every time you change car.
- Make sure the car complies with every SPSV rule while you drive it. The Manual says the driver and the owner can both be fined up to 5,000 euro if the car is used as an SPSV without an active vehicle licence.
These duties are examinable: section 5.2 of the Manual, “Operating an SPSV owned by another person”, is part of the Industry Knowledge module. Our operating rules practice has questions on rentals, links and discs.
Before you sign a rental
Ask to see the vehicle licence certificate and the insurance certificate, and check the car on the NTA’s Driver Check app, the public register fed by the driver link database. Ask who pays for the NCT, the meter checks and repairs; the NTA does not set that, the contract does. Rental prices are a private market with no official figure, so compare several ads before you commit.
One more check. As a taxi driver you may stand or ply for hire only in the county on your driver display card, which is the county of your Area Knowledge test. A rented Dublin taxi is no use to a driver licensed for Meath.
Not licensed yet?
Then the rental comes later. Getting the SPSV driver licence means the 90 euro SPSV Driver Entry Test, a 250 euro fee and a Garda application on form PSV15, which can take 12 weeks or longer; you also need a driving licence held for at least 12 months without endorsement. The steps are in how to become a taxi driver in Ireland. The test is the part you can speed up: pass it first time and you save 90 euro and several weeks. Try a free mock exam for your county first.