Taxi Regulations and Licensing Framework
This domain covers the legal architecture for taxi operation in Norway under the Taxi Act (taxiloven) and Taxi Regulations (taxiforskriften). The exam tests who may hold a licence, who may drive, and what duties continue after a licence is granted.
Licence holder and driver are different
- The county municipality grants the taxi licence (drosjeløyve) to a legal person, normally a company, not to the car or automatically to the driver. The licence sets the operating area and conditions.
- A driver needs a valid taxi driver card (drosjesjåførkort). Typical conditions are minimum age 20, class B held for at least two years, passed taxi driver exam, police certificate of good conduct and health attestation.
- The vehicle must be registered for taxi use and equipped with an approved taximeter and required safety equipment.
Ongoing duties
- Keep records, notify the county of changes, ensure only qualified drivers drive, and maintain the vehicle.
- A licence can be withdrawn for serious or repeated breaches.
Worked example: A company has a licensed taxi but a new driver has only a class B licence and no taxi card. The holder may not send that driver on a paid fare; the driver card is personal and the company's licence does not transfer. Correct step: the driver completes the exam and application, obtains the card, and only then may drive.
Traps: treating drosjeløyve as a driver's permit; letting an unlicensed driver drive just once; missing notification deadlines.