Minister of Internal Administration Júlio Correia and Minister of Qualification and Employment Sara Lopes are expected to sign a protocol in the next several days creating the framework for professional licenses for taxi drivers and passenger transportation vehicles. According to a source at the Department of Land Transportation, the intention of the license is to increment “the quality of transportation services and guarantee traffic safety.”

Holding a driver’s license will soon not be enough, in and of itself, to work as a professional taxi or collective passenger transportation vehicle driver, as is currently the case.

Having a driver’s license, according to the terms of the decree that will likely be published befor the end of the year, will be but one of the requirements for professional drivers.

The proposal for the new regulation, which A Semana Online has seen, calls for the creation of a professional driver license that will be mandatory for all of those working as professional drivers. In order to obtain the license, drivers will have to attend training courses of 100 hours, for taxi drivers, and 150 hours, for collective passenger transportation drivers.

The decree will also grant all current drivers an eight-month grace period to obtain their certification.

Source: A Semana