Driver revising with a smartphone and an open handbook in the front seat of a car parked on a London street, with a black cab behind

SERU study notes

Doing Your Job (Taxi)

Plying for hire and refusals, your badge and licence, fares and the taximeter, extras, Heathrow, journeys outside London, the shared-taxi scheme and lost property.

What this topic covers

Plying for hire and refusals, your badge and licence, fares and the taximeter, extras, Heathrow, journeys outside London, the shared-taxi scheme and lost property. The full SERU Revision: PHV & Taxi app contains 38 questions on this topic, each referenced to its section of the TfL handbook.

Worked examples

Here are a few practice questions from this topic. Try answering each before reading the explanation.

Example 1

While you are plying for hire, your taxi driver's badge should be ____.

A. hung from the rear-view mirror
B. worn where people can clearly see it ✓ correct
C. kept safely in your jacket pocket
D. stored with your licence in the glove box

Explanation: Whenever you ply for hire or carry a passenger, you wear your badge so it can be clearly seen. The handbook tells you not to hang it from the rear-view mirror and not to keep it in your pocket. A badge left in the glove box cannot be seen at all. (Taxi Handbook s1: Taxi driver's badge, licence and identifiers)

Example 2

Your 'taxi' light is on and you are stopped at red traffic lights. A man taps on your window and asks for a ride. You have not shown him that you are willing to be hired. Must you take him?

A. Yes, because your 'taxi' light is switched on at the time
B. Yes, because your taxi is stationary when he asks
C. No, unless you have shown him you are willing to be hired ✓ correct
D. Yes, as long as his journey is within the 12-mile limit

Explanation: When traffic or traffic lights have stopped your taxi, you need not accept a hiring unless you have made it clear you are willing to be hired. Having the light on does not change this, and nor does the taxi being still. As you are not obliged to take him, the length of his journey does not matter. (Taxi Handbook s1: Plying for hire)

Example 3

Your passenger gets out at their destination and the hiring ends. By when must you have stopped the taximeter?

A. Once you have written out a receipt
B. When your next passenger gets into the taxi
C. When you switch your 'taxi' light back on
D. No later than the moment the hiring ends ✓ correct

Explanation: The taximeter must be stopped when the hiring ends at the latest, and you may stop it earlier if you choose. Waiting until a receipt is written, until the next passenger gets in, or until the light goes back on would all leave the meter running after the hiring has ended. (Taxi Handbook s1: Taxi fares and the taximeter)

Example 4

Which of these can you never add to a fare as an extra?

A. A charge for carrying the passengers' luggage ✓ correct
B. A charge for a journey on Christmas Day
C. A charge for a journey from a Heathrow Airport taxi rank
D. A charge for a journey booked by phone, app or online

Explanation: Carrying luggage can never be charged as an extra, and nor can additional passengers, wheelchair users or assistance dogs. Journeys on Christmas Day, journeys from a Heathrow Airport taxi rank and journeys booked by phone, app or online are all valid extras on the fare chart. (Taxi Handbook s1: Extras)

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More SERU study notes

Get all 38 questions on this topic in the SERU Revision: PHV & Taxi app.