Finland: Amendments to taxi legislation to come into force mainly on 1 May

NordenBladet — The legislative amendments included in a series of corrections introduced to the taxi regulation will enter into force mainly on 1 May 2021. The amendments on pricing and equipment, including taximeters, will come into force on 1 September 2021. 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, says Minister of Transport and Communications Timo Harakka.On 8 April 2021, the Government proposed that the amendments be adopted. The President of the Republic is expected to approve the bills on 9 April 2021.

Key changes
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 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 already at the time they receive a taxi transport licence. In 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.

Taxi service operators and brokering service providers should inform the authorities of the prices. More specific instructions will be given on the data to be provided on the supply and demand of services.

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.

Two resolutions
The parliamentary reply to the government proposal includes two resolutions.

1. Parliament requires that the Government without delay assess and implement all legislative and other measures needed to improve the availability of taxi services in different regions.
2. Parliament also requires that the Government without delay launch and implement a legislative project and other necessary measures to improve the publicly supported transportation and to respond to the current challenges in cooperation with the sector.

Further information from Traficom
Further information on the statutes and more specific regulations will be available on the website and newsletters of the Transport and Communications Agency Traficom.