New taxi service law kicks in on 1 May

The taxi law amended with the view to rebuild the customers’ trust in safe taxi services will enter into force mainly on 1 May, said the Ministry of Transport and Communications in a press release on Thursday.

The amendments on pricing and equipment, including taximeters, however, will come into force on 1 September.

The variation in the dates of the entry into force allows the taxi operators to make the necessary changes required in the amendments.

“The aim of the corrections to taxi regulation is to return the customers' trust in safe taxi services and the entrepreneurs’ trust in the future of the sector,” said Minister of Transport and Communications Timo Harakka.

The government on Thursday proposed that the amendments be adopted. The president is expected to approve the bills on Friday.

The topics and the minimum content of the questions in the taxi driver exam will be defined in more detail to better ensure the safety of passengers and the high standard of working with special groups.

In order to improve their expertise, in future, taxi drivers will be able to attend a voluntary driver training course for the provision of taxi services to special groups. The training can also be taken into account in public procurement for taxi transport services.

The price of the taxi journey or the basis for determining the price should continue to be indicated before the start of the journey. If the price of a journey is not fixed, a specific pricing structure should be used and the price of an example journey should be presented. In determining the price, a taximeter in accordance with the Measuring Instruments Act should be used.

If, on the basis of price monitoring, the Transport and Communications Agency (Traficom) considers the prices for the additional services of special groups to be unreasonable, it can set a maximum price for them.

Entrepreneurs will be required to provide a business ID at the time when they receive a taxi transport licence. In the future, the requirements for a taxi transport licence will include an obligation to complete entrepreneurial training and the related examination. The drivers who already have a taxi transport licence must meet the legal requirements during a transition period.

In order to improve supervision, a taxi transport licence or a copy of it must always be kept in the vehicle. The driver’s responsibility for the documents and information that must be kept in the vehicle has also been increased, and a fee for a traffic violation can be imposed on the driver for a breach of the obligations.

An illuminated taxi sign will be mandatory, except for certain business and PR journeys. In order to support tax supervision, electronic data determined in legislation should be collected on all taxi journeys.

In the future, a taxi transport licence will not be required for transport included in the service package of household service providers and tourism service companies. It is further specified that a taxi transport licence is required for professional transport of persons by vehicles defined by law and for the provision of these services to the public.