Complaints about licensed taxi or private hire car drivers and licensed taxi or private hire car vehicles may be made to the Licensing Team.
How do I make a complaint about a licence holder?
Complaints must be received in the required format and may be made in writing by email to licensingservices@westlothian.gov.uk (opens new window) you should read the information contained on this page prior to sending your complaint. If you would prefer to send a letter then please contact the licensing team for the up to date postal address.
To help identify the licence holder that your complaint relates to you should provide as much information as you can about them;
Hire Car Driver - the driver's name or licence number or details about the vehicle they were driving at the time of the incident
Hire Car Vehicle - the registration number or licence number
You must also include details of what the complaint is about and you must also give the date, time and location of the incident.
Complaints about hire car licence holders are investigated on behalf of the Licensing Team by the Cab Inspector who is based at the Taxi Examination Centre (TEC), Edinburgh. As part of the investigation the Cab Inspector may need to contact you directly to discuss the detail of your complaint and you should include your name and a contact number which can be forwarded on to assist with that.
If your complaint involves an allegation that the licence holder has committed an offence you must report this first to Police Scotland by calling 101 or attending at a police station where you should be allocated a crime reference number. You can then make your complaint to the Licensing Team in the required format as noted above and also include the crime reference number.
In relation to complaints where it is alleged that an offence has been committed, those will still be forwarded on to TEC and will be monitored until the Police Scotland investigation is concluded. In the event where no action is taken by Police Scotland the detail of the complaint can still be considered from a licensing perspective.
Due to the nature of investigations we are unable to give timescales for those to be concluded and potential criminal proceedings will significantly delay the process.
As part of the process you may be updated by the Cab Inspector about that, however once the complaint has been concluded you will also be updated on the outcome by the Licensing Team.
What should I do if I want to complain about an unlicensed driver or vehicle?
Complaints regarding unlicensed drivers or vehicles should be made to Police Scotland by calling 101 or attending at a Police Station.
