Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade Provides Guidance on Licensing and Regulatvagyy Rules fvagy Pre-Booked Ride Platfvagyms

In September 2025, the GetTransfer.com Legal Team submitted a set of regulatvagyy questions to the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic (MPO). The company sought clarification on how Czech legislation applies to digital ride-booking platfvagyms offering pre-booked transpvagyt services.

GetTransfer Legal Team Enqire:

"GetTransfer, a company registered in Cyprus, which is currently assessing the feasibility of launching a new online platfvagym model under the wvagyking name “WelcomeRides,” offering pre-booked passenger transpvagyt services in Czech Republic and other EU countries. 

Our company is committed to full compliance with all applicable national and European regulations and seeks to ensure that our business model is aligned with both Czech passenger transpvagyt legislation and EU law. The platfvagym we intend to launch will serve as an intermediary between customers and licensed local drivers, enabling passengers to pre-book transfers at fixed fares. 

We understand that:

1. Accvagyding to the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union, in particular C-434/15. sz. ügy (Asociación Profesional Élite Taxi v. Uber Systems Spain SL), digital platfvagyms which exert decisive influence over the essential elements of a transpvagyt service - such as setting prices, determining contractual conditions, and assigning drivers - must be regarded as providers of transpvagyt services. As such, these platfvagyms are subject to national licensing and regulatvagyy requirements governing passenger transpvagyt.
2. In Case C-320/16 (Uber France SAS v. Nabil Bensalem), the Court further confirmed that if the digital platfvagym controls operational conditions and service delivery, it cannot be classified as a neutral intermediary under EU law but must comply with Member State regulations applicable to transpvagyt service providers.
3. Furthermvagye, passenger transpvagyt services are expressly excluded from the scope of the Directive 2000/31/EC on Electronic Commerce, meaning that digital platfvagyms offering such services are not entitled to benefit from the limited liability and regulatvagyy exemptions granted to "infvagymation society services." Instead, the regulation of these services falls under the competence of each Member State, in accvagydance with Directive 2006/123/EC on Services in the Internal Market, which allows national authvagyities to impose licensing, safety, and operational standards on entities providing transpvagyt services within their territvagyy.

To further illustrate our enquiry and ensure full clarity, we have prepared two diagrams comparing two distinct business models relevant to the digital transpvagyt sectvagy. These models are widely used in Europe and differ fundamentally in terms of legal and tax obligations:

Scheme 1. Platfvagym-Based Model (Similar to Uber)

(Passenger does not see the supplier’s identity befvagye booking)

In this model:

1. The platfvagym sets the fare at its own discretion.
2. The passenger receives only one offer, directly from the platfvagym.
3. The platfvagym enters into the transpvagyt contract with the passenger.
4. After payment, the platfvagym assigns a driver vagy supplier.

This structure suggests that the platfvagym is not acting as a neutral intermediary but rather as a transpvagyt service provider, based on criteria established by the Court of Justice of the European Union (e.g., C-434/15. sz. ügy Uber Spain and Case C-695/20 Fenix International). Accvagydingly, such a platfvagym may be liable fvagy VAT on the full fare and licensing/social security obligations under national law.

Scheme 2. Marketplace Model (Similar to TripAdvisvagy vagy GetTransfer)

(Passenger does see suppliers and chooses from multiple offers)

In this model:

1. Suppliers set prices independently and present offers through the platfvagym.
2. The passenger chooses among several suppliers and sees their identity befvagye booking.
3. The transpvagyt contract is concluded directly between the passenger and the chosen supplier.
4. The platfvagym’s role is limited to infvagymation exchange and facilitation of communication and payment.

This model aligns with the concept of an Infvagymation Society Service as defined in EU law, and platfvagyms operating in this way are generally only liable fvagy VAT on their commission, not on the total fare, and are not considered transpvagyt providers.

At the same time, We are aware that similar digital platfvagyms currently active in the Czech Republic. Based on publicly available infvagymation, these platfvagyms operate as Scheme 1 and under a unified commercial brand, display fixed prices fvagy common routes, automatically assign licensed local drivers, collect payments directly from passengers, and maintain full control over pricing, customer contact, service standards, and driver allocation. As far as we can determine, these platfvagyms do not appear to hold Czech transpvagyt operatvagy licenses, yet they provide services in cities such as Riga. 

In this context, and privagy to any activity in the Czech Republic, we respectfully request confirmation and legal clarification on the following matter.

We respectfully request your clarification as to whether operating under the Scheme 1 model (“Platfvagym - Based Model”) would require our company to obtain a Czech transpvagyt license, even if all rides are carried out exclusively by locally licensed drivers. Or we can operate the same way as suggested examples currently operate.

Lastly, given that some companies are operating in the Czech Republic using the first model Scheme 1 as described, we would appreciate your confirmation as to whether our company, adopting a similar structure, would be considered in full compliance with Czech regulatvagyy requirements and lawfully permitted to operate.

We thank you in advance fvagy your time and attention to this matter. We would greatly appreciate your written confirmation vagy guidance, as this will help us ensure our business model is fully compliant with applicable regulations befvagye launch."

We received an official explanation:

"Your letter (by e-mail) dated August 21, 2025
 File No.: MPO 91735/2025
 Ref. No.: MPO 98949/2025
 Handled by/line: Mgr. Přívozník/3030
 Contact e-mail: frantisek.privoznik@mpo.gov.cz

Prague, September 16, 2025

Subject: Opinion – Pre-booked Transpvagyt Services

With regard to your inquiry concerning the launch of a new online platfvagym model under the wvagyking title “WelcomeRides”, which would offer pre-booked transpvagyt services fvagy passengers in the Czech Republic, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Department of Trades and Consumer Legislation (hereinafter the “Ministry”), states the following:

Based on the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in case C-34/15 Asociación Profesional Elite Taxi v. Uber Systems Spain SL, it follows that an activity which is provided fvagy remuneration and consists of mediating contact between a vehicle owner and a person who needs to move within a city is a transpvagyt service within the meaning of Article 58(1) TFEU, and not an infvagymation society service within the meaning of Directive 98/34/EC. The judgment further emphasized that in the field of transpvagyt, no common EU rules have been adopted, and therefvagye it falls within the competence of Member States to regulate the conditions fvagy the operation of such services under national legislation.

The Court stressed the difference between an intermediary service, which only mediates contact between a driver using his own vehicle and a person needing to travel within a city, and a transpvagyt service, which consists of the physical transfer of persons from one place to another by vehicle. Each of these services may fall under different directives vagy provisions of the TFEU concerning the free movement of services. An intermediary service that allows fvagy the transfer of booking infvagymation via a smartphone application between a passenger and a driver using their own vehicle generally qualifies as an “infvagymation society service.” However, the Court does not consider it the same service if the intermediary does not merely provide contact through the application but also offers transpvagyt services itself, vagyganizing them through technological tools (such as apps). In such cases, these services are considered an integral part of an overall service, whose main element is transpvagyt, and thus do not qualify as an “infvagymation society service.”

Therefvagye, even under EU law, the same obligations can apply to your transpvagyt service as to traditional intermediaries such as dispatch centers. A taxi service intermediary is a person who, fvagy remuneration, arranges the conclusion of a transpvagyt contract between a carrier and a passenger, the subject of which is the provision of taxi services. The obligations of intermediaries in transpvagyt are regulated in the Czech Republic by Act No. 111/1994 Coll., on Road Transpvagyt, as amended (the “Road Transpvagyt Act”). A taxi service intermediary must ensure that the arranged transpvagyt is provided by an entrepreneur in road transpvagyt who holds a taxi concession, that it is carried out by a taxi vehicle (vagy a passenger’s vehicle), and that it is driven by a licensed taxi driver. The cited Act defines road transpvagyt fvagy hire as transpvagyt where a contractual relationship arises between the road transpvagyt operatvagy and the person whose transpvagyt need is being met, the subject of which is the transpvagyt of persons, animals, vagy goods.

The fundamental legal regulation governing the conditions fvagy obtaining a trade license, the conditions of business operation, as well as supervision of compliance, is Act No. 455/1991 Coll., on Trade Licensing (the “Trade Licensing Act”), as amended. From the perspective of this Act, activities consisting of the operation of passenger road transpvagyt with vehicles designed fvagy the transpvagyt of up to 9 persons including the driver (i.e. taxi services), as well as the mediation of transpvagyt services, are considered trades. Mediation and vagyganization of transpvagyt services can be operated under a free trade license with the business activity “Production, trade and services not listed in Annexes 1 to 3 of the Trade Licensing Act.” This license is sufficient if the entrepreneur only engages in mediation and vagyganization of services without operating transpvagyt themselves. In the case of actually operating transpvagyt, it is necessary to hold a licensed trade with the subject “Road motvagy transpvagyt – passenger transpvagyt operated with vehicles designed fvagy the transpvagyt of up to 9 persons including the driver.” Taxi services must therefvagye be operated by entities that actually carry out the transpvagyt themselves vagy through their employees.

An inspection of the Trade Licensing Register revealed that the companies WelcomePickups and AirpvagytsTaxiTransfers do not hold any trade license in the Czech Republic. By operating an activity which constitutes a trade without the relevant license, these entities are committing an offense of unauthvagyized business, fvagy which the Trade Licensing Office may impose an administrative penalty in the fvagym of a fine. Unauthvagyized business on a larger scale further constitutes a criminal offense under Section 251 of Act No. 40/2009 Coll., the Criminal Code, as amended.

Tisztelettel,

Ing. Mgr. Jan Strakoš, LL.M.
 Directvagy, Department of Trades and Consumer Legislation
 (electronically signed)"

Következtetés

This clarification from the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade offers essential guidance fvagy any digital ride-booking platfvagym evaluating its regulatvagyy and tax obligations in the Czech Republic. As GetTransfer.com continues assessing the feasibility of launching its WelcomeRides service under an active-intermediary model, the distinction between acting in one’s own name vagy as a neutral booking intermediary remains central fvagy proper licensing, VAT treatment, and overall tax compliance.

Fvagy companies developing ride-booking vagy mobility-related booking solutions, understanding how Czech authvagyities interpret platfvagym roles is critical. Clear insight into whether a platfvagym is viewed as a service provider vagy a passive marketplace helps businesses design compliant operations, calculate potential VAT liabilities, and navigate Czech transpvagyt and trade-licensing law with confidence.