Taxi service in Estonia: taxi licence, vehicle card and driver's card

Running a taxi service in Estonia, including rides ordered through an app, needs three documents under the Public Transport Act: a taxi licence for the carrier, a vehicle card for each car and a service provider's card for each driver⁶. The local government of the service area issues them⁷, within statutory time limits and for fixed state fees³¹³².

Information as of 11 November 2026. Every numbered statement of this page was checked in the official text named below and re-checked by a second reviewer on 2026-11-11. The page is general information, not legal advice; the authority decides on every application.

What the activity is

Under the Public Transport Act (ühistranspordiseadus, "the Act"), taxi service is carrying passengers by road to the customer's chosen destination, driving to where a passenger has been ordered, and waiting for a passenger at a taxi stand or agreed place¹. Taxi service is one form of public transport, which the Act defines as passenger carriage for a fee².

The Act expressly covers taxi service ordered and priced through an information society service (an app or similar online service), with some different rules (section 4)³.

Not taxi service: carrying passengers in a car on a route planned for the driver's own purposes without the aim of earning income¹. Paid carriage with non-motorised vehicles, motor-assisted bicycles and other vehicles outside the Act is regulated by local government legislation⁴.

The legal act and the authority

The legal act is the Public Transport Act, Chapter 8 "Requirements for taxi service" (§§ 54–66), in the redaction in force from 1 April 2026⁵. The Act names three documents:

• the taxi licence (taksoveoluba), which proves the carrier's right to organise taxi service;
• the vehicle card (sõidukikaart), which proves the right to use the vehicle entered on the card in taxi service;
• the service provider's card (teenindajakaart), which proves the right to work as a driver in taxi service⁶.

Taxi service without a taxi licence, a vehicle card and a service provider's card is prohibited⁶.

The competent authority is the rural municipality or city government (valla- või linnavalitsus), or its authorised agency, in whose territory the carrier wishes to organise taxi service or the driver wishes to work (the "service area")⁷. The council may delegate issuing to a non-profit association or a regional public transport centre on the basis of a council decision⁸. The same local government supervises compliance with the taxi licence, vehicle card and service provider's card⁹.

The issuer enters the data of the taxi licence, the vehicle card and the service provider's card in the Register of Economic Activities (majandustegevuse register, MTR)¹⁰. For the taxi licence it shows, among other things, the carrier, the issuer, the licence number, its validity and the service area¹¹.

Who must apply

• The carrier — the company or sole proprietor that organises taxi service — needs the taxi licence⁶. The applicant may be a legal person, a legal person being founded, or a sole proprietor (füüsilisest isikust ettevõtja, FIE)¹².
• Each vehicle used in taxi service needs a vehicle card. The card is issued to a carrier holding a taxi licence or to the holder of a service provider's card¹³.
• Each driver needs a service provider's card⁶.

The Act itself names the exclusion of non-commercial ride-sharing described in section 1¹. Taxi service in another local government's service area is allowed if that area's requirements are followed¹⁴.

Requirements for the applicant

Carrier (taxi licence). The applicant and the holder must have a good reputation and good financial standing¹⁵. Reputation is good if the person has no undeleted punishment for a criminal offence in the first degree, more than once for an intentional second-degree offence, or for the other offences listed in ÜTS § 56(1) (among them operating paid road transport without the required licence and listed misdemeanours); the authority may also find that losing the good reputation would be disproportionate in the case¹⁵. Financial standing is good if a court has not declared the person bankrupt and the person has no unscheduled tax debt¹⁵. The licence issuer checks the holder's compliance against the criminal records database at least once a year¹⁶.

Whether share capital, own funds, a management-body test, staff or key-function requirements, or anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) rules apply is specified for the client's situation.

Driver (service provider's card). The applicant and the holder must hold a valid driving licence of at least category B and meet the good-reputation requirement of ÜTS § 57(2)¹⁷. A person with a first (probationary) or restricted driving licence is not entitled to the card¹⁸.

Vehicle (vehicle card). Vehicles used in taxi service must be entered in the traffic register and have passed the roadworthiness check¹⁹. Where the trip is ordered and priced without an information society service, the vehicle must have a taximeter, a price list and a printer; these are also required if the vehicle serves passengers from a taxi stand²⁰. A roof sign (plafoon) and the carrier's name or protected trade mark on the right outer side are required to serve passengers from a taxi stand and to use bus lanes²¹.

App-based taxi service. Where ordering and pricing take place through an information society service, the carrier must tell the passenger before the trip the driver's name, photo, service provider's card number and the maximum price with taxes (or the price components), and give a trip summary after the trip²². An electronic device used to provide the information society service is not treated as an imitation of a taximeter in that case²³.

Local rules. The municipal or city council may set additional quality requirements for taxi vehicles, and for taxi service not ordered through an information society service, the form of the price list and maximum fares²⁴.

Documents filed with the application

Taxi licence²⁵:

• an application with the applicant's contact details, including telephone number, e-mail address and postal address;
• for a legal person, its name and registry code; for a legal person being founded, a document proving its foundation; for a sole proprietor, the name and registry code;
• the requested period of validity, if the applicant wants the validity of the licence to be limited.

Vehicle card²⁶ — in addition to the application:

• the vehicle's contract of use, if the applicant is not the owner or user of the vehicle under the registration certificate;
• the taximeter adjustment certificate, if the trip is to be ordered and priced without an information society service (it may also be presented immediately before the card is issued);
• the carrier's taxi licence number, if the card is applied for by a holder of a service provider's card who is not a carrier.

Service provider's card²⁷:

• an application with the applicant's contact details;
• the driving licence, if it is not entered in the Estonian traffic register.

The applicant need not file data already held in a database established by law, except identifying and contact data²⁸. The photo on the service provider's card is entered digitally, and the issuer may query it from the identity documents database²⁹.

State fee and processing time

The state fee must be paid before the application is filed, unless the issuer is an authorised non-profit association or regional public transport centre³⁰; such a body may charge a fee not exceeding the state fee⁸. Under the State Fees Act (riigilõivuseadus) the state fee is³¹:

The decision on a taxi licence application is communicated by post or electronically within seven days after all the data and documents listed in ÜTS § 58(1) have been filed³². If the documents have deficiencies, the issuer sets a reasonable time to remedy them, and the time limit is suspended until they are remedied³³. The seven-day period is the law's time limit for the authority, not a promise of a result or a date.

All three documents are issued without a term unless the applicant asks for a fixed period; a vehicle card is not issued for longer than the taxi licence or the service provider's card on which it is based³⁴.

What LexorCorp Global OÜ does and how to order

LexorCorp Global OÜ prepares the application for your company: we put together the application documents for the taxi licence, and where needed the vehicle cards and service provider's cards, and manage the filing with the competent local government. We do not give legal or tax advice or carry out audits, and we do not promise a licence, a date or the authority's decision.

The taxi licence, the vehicle card and the service provider's card are among the licensable activities listed in our guide Licensed activities in Estonia. The price is given on request: use "Request a price" next to the taxi licence, vehicle card or driver card in that guide, and we reply by e-mail.

Sources

1. ÜTS § 3(2) — text in force from 01.04.2026 (RT I, 18.12.2025, 20)
2. ÜTS § 2 — text in force from 01.04.2026 (RT I, 18.12.2025, 20)
3. ÜTS § 58(2) p 2, § 64(3), § 65(1¹) — text in force from 01.04.2026 (RT I, 18.12.2025, 20)
4. ÜTS § 1(8) — text in force from 01.04.2026 (RT I, 18.12.2025, 20)
5. ÜTS chapter 8; header 'Sõnastuse jõustumise kp' — text in force from 01.04.2026 (RT I, 18.12.2025, 20)
6. ÜTS § 54(1)–(4) — text in force from 01.04.2026 (RT I, 18.12.2025, 20)
7. ÜTS § 55(1); § 13(1) p 5 — text in force from 01.04.2026 (RT I, 18.12.2025, 20)
8. ÜTS § 55(2); § 58(6) — text in force from 01.04.2026 (RT I, 18.12.2025, 20)
9. ÜTS § 80(2) — text in force from 01.04.2026 (RT I, 18.12.2025, 20)
10. ÜTS § 77(1) — text in force from 01.04.2026 (RT I, 18.12.2025, 20)
11. ÜTS § 62(1) — text in force from 01.04.2026 (RT I, 18.12.2025, 20)
12. ÜTS § 58(1) p 2 — text in force from 01.04.2026 (RT I, 18.12.2025, 20)
13. ÜTS § 54(2) — text in force from 01.04.2026 (RT I, 18.12.2025, 20)
14. ÜTS § 65(3) — text in force from 01.04.2026 (RT I, 18.12.2025, 20)
15. ÜTS § 56(1)–(2) — text in force from 01.04.2026 (RT I, 18.12.2025, 20)
16. ÜTS § 81(7) — text in force from 01.04.2026 (RT I, 18.12.2025, 20)
17. ÜTS § 57(1) p 1 and p 4, § 57(2) — text in force from 01.04.2026 (RT I, 18.12.2025, 20)
18. ÜTS § 57(3) — text in force from 01.04.2026 (RT I, 18.12.2025, 20)
19. ÜTS § 64(1) — text in force from 01.04.2026 (RT I, 18.12.2025, 20)
20. ÜTS § 64(3) — text in force from 01.04.2026 (RT I, 18.12.2025, 20)
21. ÜTS § 64(2) — text in force from 01.04.2026 (RT I, 18.12.2025, 20)
22. ÜTS § 65(1¹) — text in force from 01.04.2026 (RT I, 18.12.2025, 20)
23. ÜTS § 64(6) — text in force from 01.04.2026 (RT I, 18.12.2025, 20)
24. ÜTS § 64(10); § 66(3) p 1–2 — text in force from 01.04.2026 (RT I, 18.12.2025, 20)
25. ÜTS § 58(1) — text in force from 01.04.2026 (RT I, 18.12.2025, 20)
26. ÜTS § 58(2), (2¹) — text in force from 01.04.2026 (RT I, 18.12.2025, 20)
27. ÜTS § 58(3) — text in force from 01.04.2026 (RT I, 18.12.2025, 20)
28. ÜTS § 58(4) — text in force from 01.04.2026 (RT I, 18.12.2025, 20)
29. ÜTS § 58(4¹), in force 01.04.2026 — text in force from 01.04.2026 (RT I, 18.12.2025, 5)
30. ÜTS § 58(5) — text in force from 01.04.2026 (RT I, 18.12.2025, 20)
31. RLS §§ 332, 333, 334 — text in force from 01.11.2026
32. ÜTS § 59(1)–(3) — text in force from 01.04.2026 (RT I, 18.12.2025, 20)
33. ÜTS § 59(4) — text in force from 01.04.2026 (RT I, 18.12.2025, 20)
34. ÜTS § 61(1)–(3) — text in force from 01.04.2026 (RT I, 18.12.2025, 20)

Official sources

The laws this article names, each linked to its official text, as read on 9 October 2026. For the Estonian acts we read the English translation in Riigi Teataja; the legally binding text is the Estonian one.

• State Fees Act — Riigi Teataja, English translation

Sources in the text are named without links; the official texts are linked under Official sources. To see which of our services your company needs, open the Business Navigator.