The conditions for issuing taxi transport licences will change in May 2021. New requirements include a professional qualification obtained by completing an entrepreneurial training course and exam as well as the requirement that taxi transport operators must have a Business Identity Code (Business ID).
Decisions on taxi transport licence applications that have not been completely processed by 1 May will be made in accordance with the new rules. This means that as from 1 May, applicants must meet the requirements concerning entrepreneurial training and possession of a Business ID even if the application was received by Traficom before the entry into force of the new provisions.
The entrepreneurial training course and the related examination are designed to improve taxi service providers’ financial management and business competences and ensure that they possess the basic skills required to manage the obligations of an entrepreneur, including those related to taxes and pension contributions. Traficom's regulation on the entrepreneurial training course and examination for taxi transport operators enters into force on 1 May 2021.
Under the new rules, natural persons applying for a taxi transport licence are required to have a valid Business ID. This change aims to make it easier to identify licence holders as well as facilitate licence and tax control.
The requirements concerning professional qualification and possession of a Business ID also apply to those licence holders whose licences were issued before the entry into force of the new legal provisions.
- Taxi transport licence holders who do not have a Business ID on 1 May 2021 must get one by 1 August 2021.
- Taxi transport licence holders who do not fulfil the professional qualification requirement on 1 May 2021 must ensure that they meet it by 1 May 2022 at the latest.
- Persons who have met the professional qualification requirement specified in the Taxi Transport Act are considered to also meet the new requirement laid down in the Act on Transport Services, and thus do not need to complete the entrepreneurial examination referred to in the latter Act.
- Taxi transport licence holders whose licence was issued between 1 July 2018 and 30 April 2021 may take the entrepreneurial examination without needing to complete the entrepreneurial training course. This exception also applies to transport managers approved between 1 July 2018 and 30 April 2021 by Traficom or an agency that preceded it.