Taxis: drivers

To be able to practice the profession of taxi driver in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, one must have a taxi driver's card issued by the Taxi Service of the Ministry of Mobility and Public Works (MMTP).

To obtain this card, applicants must meet the following conditions:

• have held a valid driving licence for at least two years;
• have an adequate knowledge of at least one of the country's three administrative languages ​​(French, German, Luxembourgish);
• have a criminal record with no qualifying convictions;
• attend an information session organised by the MMTP.

This information session must be repeated before the card expires, at least every 10 years.

Obligations

A taxi driver must not:

• pick up customers less than 50 metres from a taxi rank;
• refuse to pick up a customer who wants a short journey at a taxi rank;
• prevent customers in any way from taking another taxi at one of the taxi ranks;
• picking up people who are being pursued by the public or by members of the Grand Ducal Police;
• seeking out customers by words, gestures or signs;
• smoking as soon as one or more customers are being picked up;
• charging a higher price than the fare displayed by the taximeter;
• turning on the taximeter before the customer is picked up or setting it to zero before the customer has had a chance to check the price owed;
• staying in the same place continuously to solicit a customer;
• preventing the customer from reading and comparing prices;
• positioning their vehicle in such a way that it poses a danger or obstruction to other road users;
• using a vehicle other than a zero-emission taxi for a zero-emission taxi licence;
• charging a fee for downtime in the event of a breakdown.

In addition, drivers are required to:

• arrange and drive their taxis to the taxi ranks in the order in which they arrive;
• issue their customers with a receipt printed using the printer connected to the taximeter, containing at least the following information: the name of the taxi operator, the date and time of the journey, the taxi's registration number, the number of the stand, the price paid, the kilometres travelled, the name and signature of the taxi driver, the contact details of the MMTP Complaints Centre;
• allow the customer to read and compare prices;
• take the customer to their destination using the shortest route, unless the customer specifies a different route;
• ensure that the taximeter functions regularly and normally throughout the journey.

Rights

The taxi driver is at the customer's service. However, this does not mean that the customer has all the rights. Under certain conditions, the taxi driver can refuse a request for transport. For example, he can:

• refuse to take a passenger to a very remote or uninhabited place unless he has been able to establish the passenger's identity, if necessary with the help of the Grand Ducal Police;
• request an advance for long-distance journeys;
• refuse to take a person who is obviously unclean, drunk or under the influence of drugs;
• refuse to transport objects that could damage the taxi or are obviously dangerous, including animals, unless it is a service dog;
• refuse to travel with children under three years of age if he does not have a seat suitable for transporting these children.

Child seats

Every young child (0-36 months) must be transported in a suitable child seat as required by the current road traffic regulations. There is no legal obligation for the driver to provide such a seat to the customer.

However, for journeys departing from Luxembourg Airport, the operator Lux-Airport provides drivers with suitable child seats free of charge. Therefore, if there are no seats available, which must be properly documented by the airport operator, it is not justified to refuse travel with small children!