Verfahrensbeschreibungen

Procedure descriptions

Apply for a car hire licence

Would you like to transport people commercially in hire cars?

Then you need a hire car licence.

You may only hire out the vehicle as a whole. The hirer (passenger) determines the purpose, destination and sequence of the journeys.

You can obtain the licence for a maximum of five years. After that, you can apply for an extension.

Please note: This does not refer to the hire of vehicles to self-drivers.

Hire cars differ from taxis as follows:

  • You are not allowed to keep hire cars on public places/roads for passenger transport. You mustsreturn to the company's place of business after each journey.
  • You have no obligation to operate and transport.
  • The fare can be freely agreed. However, you must calculate it with a Determine it with a distance counter.
  • The colour of the vehicles is not specified.
  • The number of licences is not limited.

If you want to transport people by taxi, you need a taxi licence.

Responsible department

  • if your future place of business is located in a city district: the city administration
  • if your future place of business is located in a district: the district office

Details

Prerequisite

  • The entrepreneur or the persons appointed to manage the company must be reliable.
  • The entrepreneur or the persons appointed to manage the company must be professionally qualified.
  • The company must be secure and financially viable.
  • The registered office or branch of the company must be in Germany (as defined by commercial law).

Procedure

You can apply for a hire car licence online.

The competent authority carries out a hearing procedure. As part of this, it requests opinions from other bodies, including

  • Municipalities,
  • Trade supervisory authorities,
  • the Chamber of Industry and Commerce
  • the relevant trade unions and professional associations

After the deadline for comments has expired, it decides abfinalises the application and informs the applicant of the outcome in writing.

Deadlines

none

Required documents

  • Proof of personal reliability (not older than three months at the time of application), e.g:
  • Extract from the commercial or co-operative register (certified copies)
  • Copy of the articles of association and list of shareholders
  • for legal entities: Proof of authorisation to represent the company
  • Proof of financial standing (not older than three months at the time of application):
    • Clearance certificates from the tax office
    • Clearance certificate from the responsible municipality
    • Clearance certificate from the social insurance organisation:
      • from health insurance funds with which you insure or have insured employees and
      • for yourself, if you are or were voluntarily or privately insured.
    • Clearance certificate from the Employer's Liability Insurance Association for Transport and Traffic (not older than three months at the time of application)
    • Equity certificate and, if necessary, additional certificate (not older than twelve months at the time of application)
      • The amount of equity capital depends on the number of vehicles intended for use: For the first vehicle you must provide proof of equity capital of EUR 2,250, for each additional vehicle of EUR 1,250.
  • Proof of professional suitability:
    • Examination certificate from the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) or
    • Certificate of professional competence from the IHK for at least three years of managerial activity in a hire car company or
    • Certificate of the recognised equivalent final examination (e.g. merchant examination in rail and road transport with a focus on passenger transport)
  • if you appoint other persons to manage the company, you must submit the following documents for them:
    • Certificate of good conduct
    • Information from the central trade register
    • Extract from the central traffic register
    • Proof of professional suitability
    • Proof of employment (employment contract)

Note: The competent authority may request further documents.

Costs

Framework fee for the authorisation: EUR 50.00 - EUR 500.00

For standard cases it is

  • eUR 60.00 for the first vehicle,
  • eUR 30.00 for each additional vehicle.

These amounts are not binding for the authorising authority.

In the event of excessive administrative costs, the licensing authority may deviate from these amounts up to the maximum amount of the framework fee.

Note: You may incur further costs for

  • Register information and
  • the preparation of other supporting documents.

Processing time

The competent authority will usually decide on your application within three months.

The period can be extended by a maximum of a further three months. The prerequisite is that the competent authority has announced this in good time (within the first three months) in a written interim decision.

Miscellaneous

Advertising is permitted on all body parts of hire cars.
Further information on this can be found in the general decrees (AV) of the regional councils, for example the general decree of the Stuttgart regional council on the approval of advertising on taxis and hire cars dated 11 January 2008.

Hire cars must be equipped with an odometer (not a taximeter!) and an alarm system. Exceptions are possible.

Legal basis

Personenbeförderungsgesetz (PBefG):

  • § 15 Absatz 1 Erteilung und Versagung der Genehmigung
  • § 49 Absatz 4 Verkehr mit Mietwagen

Release note

machine generated, based on the German release by: Regierungspräsidium Stuttgart, 29.03.2022