I want to become a taxi entrepreneur

If you do not have a business yet, Suomi.fi service’s business start-up wizard (External link) is an excellent tool for setting up a business. By using the service, anyone can find out what those intending to become entrepreneurs need to do and know when starting a business. Based on the answers, the service will produce a checklist of the matters to be taken care of.

Commercial transport of passengers requires a taxi transport licence. It is not allowed to be a taxi entrepreneur with only a taxi driving licence. A taxi transport licence is needed when a vehicle has a maximum of 1+8 seats.

A taxi transport licence is company-specific, which means that the number of vehicles a company uses is not restricted.

A valid goods or passenger transport licence also gives the right to taxi transport operations. However, Traficom must be notified of the taxi transport operation. The notification is company-specific, not vehicle-specific.

Taxi transport operation notification

The conditions for granting the licence include, for example:

• Legal capacity. The licence applicant must be of age and legally competent. This also concerns the transport manager of the enterprise.
• Good repute; The requirement of good repute applies to both the applicant and the applicant’s transport manager. If the applicant is a company, the company’s managing director, chair of the board, the only ordinary member of the board and general partner must also meet the requirement of good repute. The good repute of a person is assessed taking into account legally valid sentences of imprisonment over the past five years and legally valid sentences of fine over the past two years, as defined in greater detail in the Act on Transport Services. The requirement of good repute is not met if the person's good repute is endangered and their infringements are considered to indicate manifest unfitness. If the applicant is a company, the company must not have sentences of corporate fine that indicate manifest unfitness.
• Ability to meet financial obligations. The licence applicant is not allowed to be bankrupt and he or she/it is not allowed to have a link to bankruptcy indicating manifest unfitness over the last two years. Furthermore, the applicant, its managing director and its general partner are not allowed to be under a ban on business activities. The obligations must also be discharged properly. The applicant is not allowed to have neglected obligations related to taxes or other similar fees nor have debts subject to enforcement proceedings that are not minor in view of the applicant’s ability to pay. Furthermore, the applicant is not allowed to have debts that have been returned from the enforcement authorities with a certificate of lack of means.
• Establishment in Finland. The permanent place of residence of a natural person applying for the licence or the registered office of a company applying for the licence entered into the Trade Register must be in Finland. In addition, the applicant must have an effective and stable establishment in Finland.
• Business Identity Code. The applicant must have a business identity code (Business ID).
• Professional competence: The applicant or their transport manager must have successfully completed the taxi transport entrepreneurial training and related exam in accordance with the Act on Transport Services or otherwise show that they fulfil the demand for professional competence as laid down in the repealed law concerning taxi transport.
• Transport manager (when applicant is a legal person): The transport manager must effectively and continuously manage the company’s business activities and represent the company. Under a taxi transport licence, a person cannot act as a transport manager solely on the basis of an agreement.

Traficom does not make assessments on the fulfilment of conditions in advance and does not make preliminary decisions either. The fulfilment of conditions for granting the licence is not assessed before the processing of the application.

As a rule, an application without annexes is sufficient, because Traficom obtains the data needed for granting the licence from information systems of other relevant authorities via interface enquiries. It is advisable to fill in the application form as carefully as possible, because requests for additional information etc. will delay granting the licence.

The licence is issued on application. The licence is issued either to a natural person who operates as a private trader (private entrepreneur) or to a legal person, such as, for example, a limited company or a limited partnership company.

The applications will be processed in the order of arrival within approximately two weeks of the commencement of proceedings.

The fee charged for the taxi transport licence is, according to the current decree of the Ministry of Transport and Communications on transport-related services provided by the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency subject to a fee, EUR 220.

Apply for a taxi transport licence (External link)

Taxi transport licences include taxi transport licences granted by Trafi or Traficom and taxi licences granted by a Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment before 1 July 2018.

A taxi transport licence entitles its holder to taxi operations everywhere in mainland Finland.

New and renewed taxi transport licences are issued for 10 years. A taxi transport licence is company-specific, which means that the number of vehicles a company uses in taxi traffic is not restricted. The taxi transport licence or its copy must be kept in the vehicle when engaging in taxi transports. Traficom does not provide copies of the licence for each vehicle and the licence owner is responsible for making the necessary copies of the licence for the individual vehicles.

According to the Act on Transport Services, the name and contact details of the licence holder must be on display in the vehicle for the customer.

Please check that your contact details in My e-Services are up to date. You can update your telephone number and email address via My e-Services (My e-Services/Front page/My details). You can log in with your online banking credentials, mobile certificate or certificate card.

You do not need to report a change of name or address to Traficom. Name or address changes for natural persons are reported to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency and name or address changes for legal persons are reported to the Finnish Trade Register.

Taxi licences granted by the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment that had been granted until further notice changed into fixed-term licences on 1 July 2018. According to the transitional provisions of the Act on Transport Services, the validity of the first licences that have been granted until further notice expires in 2029. Traficom will remind the licence holders of the need to renew the licences in good time before the expiration of validity of the licences. A licence that has been granted until further notice changes into a fixed-term licence already earlier if changes need to be made in the licence (e.g. a change of name of the licence holder).