[4] Mayor John Lindsay signed Local Law 12 which created the TLC in 1971, an agency which "purpose of which is the continuance, further development and improvement of taxi and for-hire service.

[7] The TLC has acted as a technical consultant for major TV shows and films that involved taxicab use, such as Friends, Conspiracy Theory, and the Bone Collector.

The agency's divisions and bureaus include Uniformed Services, Licensing, Legal, Policy, Public Affairs, Safety & Emissions, among others.

The exercise of this authority are very limited to the employee's geographical area of employment and only while such employee is on duty as listed in Chapter 13 subsection (C): Special Patrolmen[16] TLC Special Patrolman are prohibited by New York State Law (Criminal Procedure Law) to use or carry a firearm, but do use a variety of equipment.

Its features include a large cabin, passenger charging stations and reading lights, independent passenger climate control, yellow seatbelt straps, handles to assist stepping in and out, a clear panoramic roof, and sliding doors to prevent injuries from dooring.

[20] TLC inspectors may seize vehicles suspected of operating as an illegal cab, and DNAinfo reported in 2014 that the city Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings' Taxi and Limousine Tribunal dismissed 1442 of the 7187 accusations over 1.5 years.

The TLC said in a statement that "while the vast majority of cases—more than 80%—are prosecuted as written, the fact that there are a certain number of cases that are dismissed means that the system works for everyone.

"[21] Owners can't retrieve their impounded cars unless they plead guilty and pay a fine, or until their hearing before a city administrative judge.

Cab operator Gene Freidman, who had purchased several hybrid vehicles after the council's ruling, sued the TLC in New York's Supreme Court.

[23] In April 2015, the TLC posted a notice in the City Record proposing the "Licensing of For-Hire Vehicle Dispatch Applications", requiring mobile app operators to apply for approval of certain changes to any app used to arrange vehicle rides for hire, widely considered to be targeted at Uber, causing a controversy.

[24][25] In August 2018, the TLC stopped issuing new vehicle licenses for one year, in an attempt to "study the effects of ride-hail services in the city.

Both agencies were subsequently criticized for lack of transparency and accused of using the undercover cabs in stop-and-frisk and racial profiling operations by a National Lawyers Guild Police Accountability Project member.