Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a private hire license application because there is not enough evidence of fault.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained Transport for London (TfL) delayed in renewing his private hire driving license. He said this has had a negative impact on his finances as he had been unable to work. He would like TfL to issue him with a new licence, and compensate him for lost income.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Authority.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X complained TfL delayed in renewing his private hire driving license application.
6. In response to enquiries, TfL said they wrote to Mr X in November 2024, over four months before his license was due to expire, and advised him to re-apply for his license.
7. Mr X applied to TfL for his license in late January 2025. After receiving his application, TfL wrote to Mr X in early February 2025 to tell him there were issues with his application. It asked Mr X to submit the requested information before it could continue to process his application.
8. TfL wrote to Mr X four times in April and May 2025 to explain what information was missing from his application and how he could provide the requested information.
9. Mr X’s license expired in early April 2025. Mr X provided the outstanding information to TfL in May 2025, and TfL issued his licence in June 2025.
10. Mr X is unhappy with TfL’s actions and wants us to find it at fault. There is no set timescale for the private hire vehicle process, and it can be delayed for any number of reasons. In this case, TfL informed Mr X in February 2025 that it could not process his application until it received further information. It then wrote to Mr X a further four times to ask him to provide information required for them to process his application.
11. We will not investigate this complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault. TfL told Mr X it did not have all the information needed to process his application and asked him to provide the requested documentation. TfL issued Mr X’s new license shortly after it received the requested documentation.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman