All new yellow taxis in the five boroughs will need to be wheelchair accessible before they can legally pick up passengers, according to a new rule approved by the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission.

Approved last week, the rule is the city's latest attempt to comply with a federal court order from a decade-old settlement of a lawsuit brought by disability advocates.

The rule says that in order for the TLC to approve vehicle licenses for yellow taxi medallion holders, they must install features that make their vehicles wheelchair accessible. Additionally, when a taxi owner completes a refitting of their vehicle, which they are required to do every seven years, they must make their vehicle wheelchair accessible.

The rule change is designed to ensure that 50% of the city’s active yellow taxi fleet is wheelchair accessible by March 31, 2025, in order to comply with the federal court order.

At a meeting of the commission last week, commissioner and chair David Do acknowledged the financial burden complying with such an order might put on cab drivers.

“Last week, many medallion owners raised concerns about the potential financial difficulties the federal court order requiring 100% of all new taxi hack-ups be wheelchair accessible would place on them. We heard you,” Do said.

As a result, Do said the city added an amendment to the rules which allows drivers a six-month extension to the process of converting their vehicle into a wheelchair accessible taxi — so long as they can prove financial hardship.