From 1 September 2013, the Department of the Environment (DOE), under the Public Service Vehicle (PSV) legislation, is introducing single tier taxi licensing.
The main change to the current licensing system will be that, from 1 September 2013, all taxis will become Public Hire and will be permitted to stand or ply for hire anywhere in Northern Ireland, and can stand
at any rank outside Belfast. However, only Belfast Public Hire taxis (yellow plate) will be permitted to stand at a Public Hire ranks in Belfast.