Latvia’s Transport Ministry has drafted rule changes so taxi drivers are no longer automatically locked out of work for six months after minor commercial-transport admin penalties.
Amendments to Cabinet Regulation No. 149 on registering taxi and light-vehicle commercial passenger drivers would scrap the clause that blocked registration — or removed a driver from the Taxi Driver Register — for six months after any such administrative fine. The ministry says the present rule is disproportionate and can stop someone working over small paperwork or display failures, such as wrong placement of mandatory information, a missing roof sign, or a licence card not shown clearly in the cabin.
Deputy state secretary Kaspars Bērziņš said the aim is proportionate regulation, not weaker oversight: “The changes are aimed at ensuring that a person does not lose the opportunity to work in their profession due to minor violations. At the same time, control and oversight in the industry are not weakened.”
What stays
Core entry tests would remain: category B licence with at least three years’ experience, state-language ability, no driving ban, and no more than eight penalty points. The state Transport Directorate would keep checking compliance and could still remove drivers from the register when criteria fail.
Officials also expect less admin burden — no separate six-month ban check at registration — and fewer appeals. Coverage on BB.LV, Inbox and LV Portāls frames this as a prepared proposal; it takes effect only once the Cabinet amendments are adopted.