A 207 Taxi sits outside the company’s office on Presumpscot Street in Portland on Wednesday. Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald

Portland’s last traditional cab company has operated without a license for several months.

City officials said 207 Taxi’s annual license ran out at the end of April. But it continued to dispatch cabs to Portland International Jetport and other destinations in Greater Portland, according to company owner Craig Cobbett.

After a Portland Press Herald reporter contacted Cobbett on Wednesday, he went to Portland City Hall and applied to license four taxis, said city spokesperson Jessica Grondin.

Cobbett won’t have to pay a penalty for operating without a license since May, Grondin said, but he was charged $360 for a new license — $10 more than a renewed license — because he let it lapse for several months. He also was charged $315 each to license three additional taxis and must undergo a new criminal background check, she said.

Grondin said the matter is considered resolved and no additional effort will be made to prevent other unlicensed cab drivers from operating in the city.

“It’s a complaint-driven system,” Grondin said. “We really don’t have the resources to do more than that.”

Cobbett sounded surprised when asked why 207 cabs were operating without a license, including 13 reserved pickups at the jetport in December, said Zachary Sundquist, assistant airport director. The Press Herald looked into the company’s operations when recent calls for cab service went unanswered.

“Most of our work now is contract work,” Cobbett said. “We’re more of a dispatch company. We mostly sublet work now.”

After he applied for new licenses, Cobbett said his company is fully insured, as required by the city.

“We keep a decent amount of insurance,” he clarified. “We always operate above board.”

Cobbett was unclear about the reasons he failed to renew his company’s license on time this year.

207 Taxi has been Portland’s last traditional cab company — one that owns and operates a fleet of taxis — since the pandemic knocked out ASAP Taxi, which also let its license lapse in April. The rise of transportation network companies such as Uber and Lyft has taken a toll, too.

Before the pandemic, Portland had 133 licensed cab companies and 239 licensed cab drivers, Grondin said. The city suspended cab licensing during the pandemic when many people stayed home.

As of Wednesday, there were 45 licensed cab companies and 45 licensed drivers, she said, plus Cobbett’s operation with four cabs. He had nine cabs just two years ago.

“The vast majority (of taxi companies now) are owner-operators,” she said.

Most are also recent immigrants, some of whom rely on referral and dispatch services from providers such as Portland Airport Express Cab and Portland Taxi Service, which has 15 independent licensed cab drivers, said service supervisor Abdi Mo.

In addition to being insured, which costs thousands of dollars for each vehicle, cab companies must provide proof that their vehicles and meters have passed inspections and that owners and drivers have valid driver’s licenses.

Taxi drivers also must prominently display their city licenses, which include full-face photos, and renew them annually for $135 (a new one costs $145).

The jetport has a separate permit process and fee structure for taxis, limos and other vehicles providing individual passenger transportation.