Rules and Regulations: Road Traffic Act and Vocational Licence Requirements
A Private Hire Car Driver's Vocational Licence (PDVL) is issued by the Land Transport Authority under the Road Traffic Act. It is what makes an ordinary Class 3/3A driver lawfully able to drive a registered private hire car (PHC) for hire and reward - and it comes with conditions that examiners test heavily.
Getting and keeping the licence
Applicants must meet LTA's minimum age and driving-experience thresholds (broadly, at least 30 years old with about a year on a Class 3/3A licence), pass a medical examination, clear background screening, and complete the prescribed PDVL course and test. The licence runs for a fixed term (three years) and must be renewed before it expires.
Operating conditions
- Every fare must come from a booking through a licensed ride-hail platform. A PHC must not ply for hire, accept a street hail, or wait at a taxi stand.
- Carry the PDVL and produce it on demand to an authorised officer.
- The car must be a registered PHC with valid road tax, current periodic inspection, and insurance covering the carriage of passengers for reward.
- The demerit point system applies; accumulated points suspend the licence and serious offences can revoke it.
Traps
- Confusing PDVL with the Taxi Driver's Vocational Licence (TDVL): a PDVL does not permit driving a taxi.
- Picking up a street hail 'because the app was down' - still an offence.
- Driving on an expired or suspended licence.
Rule of thumb: no app booking, no trip - if the fare did not come through a licensed platform, the journey is not lawful.