Applications and Assessment for Private Hire Car Driver's Vocational Licence

Mr Ang Hin Kee asked the Minister for Transport (a) what is the number of applications for the Private Hire Car Driver's Vocational Licence (PDVL) that the LTA has received to date; (b) how many of these applicants failed the security and background checks; and (c) how many of these applicants are already providing private hire car services under the former regulations and what are the main reasons for their failure to obtain the PDVL under the new regulations.

As of 28 June 2017, LTA has received about 43,000 applications for the Private Hire Car Driver’s Vocational Licence (PDVL). Forty-two thousand applications or 98% have been processed. Of these, 38,000 have been approved. Four hundred fifty have been rejected because of failed background checks. The rest were rejected because they were invalid, for example, the applicant did not have the minimum two years' Class 3/3A driving experience. We do not have data if the current applicants are already providing private hire car services.