Bolt app to drop foreign-plated taxis as Slovakia enforces new rules in January 2025. (source: TASR)
From January 1, 2025, taxis in Slovakia will be permitted on the country’s roads only if they carry Slovak licence plates.
Drivers who fail to comply face fines ranging from €100 to €15,000. Repeat offenders could see penalties climb as high as €50,000 or risk having their taxi licences revoked, Transport Minister Jozef Ráž (a nominee of Smer) reminded the public in a video on Monday.
“This means equal conditions for all vehicles. Cars registered in other countries don’t have to undergo emission and technical inspections as often as Slovak taxis do, which has led to a degree of discrimination against local drivers,” Ráž stated.
At the same time, he continued, this measure will enhance safety for their customers.
The ministry estimates that hundreds of taxis on Slovak roads are still registered abroad and operating with foreign licence plates. Ráž urged taxi operators to re-register their vehicles domestically before the deadline.
Earlier this year, the ministry reported that, as of the end of 2023, there were 12,871 registered taxi service vehicles, 188 of which were not registered in Slovakia. However, Branislav Masár, head of the Slovak Taxi Association, disputed these figures. “In Bratislava alone, we have approximately 1,000 taxis with foreign licence plates,” he told Pravda in the spring. The exact number of vehicles operating as taxis in Slovakia under non-Slovak plates remains unknown, Masár added.
However, nearly 8,000 operators now provide taxi services in Slovakia, marking a staggering 800 percent increase over the past five years, according to the daily Pravda. The daily notes that vehicles with foreign licence plates will be barred from accessing the Bolt app, one of the most popular mobility apps in Slovakia, from January.
Foreigners can still drive taxis. Practically anyone with a category B driving licence can become a taxi driver or operate a taxi business in Slovakia. Many taxi drivers come from Ukraine, Turkey, Syria, Afghanistan, or countries of the former Soviet Union.
