- Introduction
On 17 June 2024, Articles 27e (1) (2) and 39a (1) (2) of the Road Transport Act of 6 September 2001, as amended by the Act of 26 May 2023 amending the Road Traffic Law and certain other acts (Journal of Laws of 2023, item 1123) (the “Amending Act“), entered into force.
Pursuant to the Amending Act, all taxi drivers providing passenger transport services in Poland are required to hold a Polish driving license as of 17 June 2024.
However, certain doubts arise as to the date as of which intermediary passenger transport operators are obliged to verify drivers carrying out passenger transport and commissioned by operators who started working with the intermediary in question before 17 June 2024.
This article will outline said doubts and divergent interpretations regarding the scope of the obligations now binding on intermediaries in passenger transport, as well as non-compliance sanctions stipulated in the new regulations.
- Overview of the Act Amending the Road Transport Act
As we turn to analyse the new obligations of intermediaries in the carriage of passengers, we should start by citing Article 12 of the Amending Act, under which:
An entrepreneur conducting intermediation in the carriage of persons referred to in Article 27b (1) of the Act amended in Article 2 [that is, the Road Transport Act] shall, within 3 months from the date of entry into force of the Act [that is, the Amending Act], carry out the verification referred to in Article 27e (1) of the Act amended in Article 2 of persons carrying out carriage of persons commissioned on behalf of that entrepreneur, with whom he started cooperation before the date of entry into force of this Act. An entrepreneur conducting intermediation in the carriage of persons referred to in Article 27b (1) of the Act amended in Article 2 shall, within 3 months from the date of entry into force of the Act, perform the verification referred to in Article 27e (1) of the Act amended in Article 2 of persons performing carriage of persons commissioned on behalf of that entrepreneur, with whom he started cooperation before the date of entry into force of this Act.
The Amending Act entered into force with the exceptions indicated in Article 22 (1) – (5) of the Amending Act on 1 July 2023, however, the newly added Article 27e (1) of the Road Transport Act as amended by the Amending Act, with the exception of Article 27e (1) (2) stating the obligation for taxi drivers to have a Polish driving license, entered into force on 17 September 2023. As a result, there was already a doubt last year as to whether the obligation for passenger transport intermediaries to verify taxi drivers for the application should be conducted within 3 (three) months from:
- 1 July 2023, that is, the date on which most of the provisions of the Amending Act come into force; or;
- 17 September 2023, the date on which Article 27e of the Road Transport Act came into force (with the exception of Article 27e (1)(2), which came into force on 17 June 2024).
Literal interpretation of Article 12 of the Amending Act seems to suggest that the 3-month time limit for the verification of drivers cooperating with platforms providing intermediation services commenced on 1 July 2023, however, such an interpretation would lead to the conclusion that intermediaries were obliged to verify drivers cooperating with said platforms even before the effective date of Article 27e of the Amending Act, which made it mandatory for intermediaries to verify drivers transporting passengers. Given the above and assuming rationality of the legislator, it is my considered opinion that the 3-month deadline for verification of drivers should be interpreted as commencing on 17 September 2023.
- Divergent interpretations of the date of entry of the obligation for passenger transport intermediaries to verify the possession of a Polish driving license by taxi drivers
According to one interpretation of Article 12 of the Amending Act, the 3-month deadline for verification of possession of a Polish driving license by taxi drivers cooperating with intermediaries in passenger transport should also apply to the entry into force of Article 27e (1)(2) of the Road Transport Act, which introduced the obligation for taxi drivers to hold a Polish driving license. Should we accept this interpretation, intermediaries would have until 17 September 2024 to verify the relevant qualification of taxi drivers cooperating with taxi platforms.
This seems to contradict the intention of the legislator and the position expressed by the Minister of Infrastructure. In addition, it follows from the wording of Article 12 of the Amending Act that it applies exclusively to the entry into force of Article 27e of the Road Transport Act which imposed additional verification obligations on intermediaries, based on which the legislator decided to grant intermediaries additional 3 (three) months to verify drivers in the manner set out in Article 27e of the Road Transport Act , while the 12-month postponement of vacatio legis applicable to Article 27e (1)(2) of the Road Transport Act was only intended as a way of allowing foreign drivers more time to obtain a Polish driving license.
As follows from the above, Article 12 of the Amending Act pertained only to the entry into force, on 17 September 2023, of the vast majority of the provisions of Article 27e of the Road Transport Act, and as such cannot be evoked by intermediaries in relation to Article 27e(1)(2) of the same. In other words, passenger transport intermediaries have been obliged to verify the possession of a Polish driving license by taxi drivers since 17 June 2024. However, due to the failure of the legislator to clarify the content of Article 12 of the Amending Act, a different interpretation may also be considered justified.
In any case, there are no doubts that with respect to drivers who will start cooperating with platforms from 17 June 2024 onwards, the obligation of intermediaries to verify the possession of a Polish driving license by drivers already applies.
- Sanctions for passenger transport intermediaries for failure to comply with the obligation to verify whether taxi drivers hold a Polish driving license
Pursuant to Article 95f (1) of the Road Transport Act, an entrepreneur acting as a passenger transport intermediary who fails to comply with the obligation to verify that the taxi drivers with whom he cooperates hold a Polish driving license, shall be subject to a fine of PLN 10,000.00. It is worth pointing out that under Article 95f (2) of the Road Transport Act, if, following the imposition of said fine of PLN 10,000.00, an entrepreneur acting as an intermediary in passenger transport remains in breach of the verification obligation referred to in Article 27e (1) of the Road Transport Act, the fine shall increase to PLN 50,000.00.
- Summary
To sum up, it should be pointed out that the ratio legis of introducing the obligation for foreign taxi drivers to hold a Polish driving license was to increase passenger safety and introducing an additional level of control over the qualifications of such drivers. Hence, it is very important to establish the exact on which the discussed obligation enters into force. One can viably expect the Minister of Infrastructure or the Chief Inspector of Road Transport to issue a an official statement indicating which interpretation of Article 12 of the Amending Act should be considered correct.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you need support in understanding the obligations of drivers or intermediaries in passenger transport under the Road Transport Act, the process of exchanging foreign driving licenses for Polish ones, or sanctions for failure to comply with the obligations imposed under the Road Transport Act.