Poland to require criminal record checks from home countries for non-EU taxi drivers

The regulatory gap

Under current Polish law, anyone applying for a taxi licence must present a certificate from the National Criminal Register (KRK). That register primarily holds data on people convicted by Polish courts and Polish citizens convicted abroad. For EU citizens, the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS) provides an additional layer of cross-border verification. No equivalent mechanism exists for countries outside the EU, however. In practice, a person convicted of a serious crime in Georgia, Pakistan or Ukraine can obtain a clean certificate in Poland because the foreign conviction is invisible to Polish authorities.

There is no obstacle for a person who was convicted in the past, even for serious crimes (e.g. murder, rape or drug trafficking) in Georgia, Pakistan or Ukraine, to receive a certificate of no criminal record in Poland.

What the new bill proposes

The Ministry of Infrastructure is completing work on an amendment to the Road Transport Act. Anna Szumańska, the ministry's spokesperson, told Rzeczpospolita that a request to enter the bill into the government's legislative work register will be filed within days. The core change: non-EU and non-EFTA nationals applying for a taxi licence will have to submit a criminal record certificate from their country of origin, accompanied by a sworn translation done by a certified translator or a consul.

Taxi industry groups have been calling for this requirement for years, arguing that the current system fails to filter out drivers with criminal pasts. According to the Polish Union of App Partners, foreigners already account for 48 percent of taxi drivers in Poland.

Beyond criminal records

The draft amendment goes further than background checks. The ministry also wants to limit the number of licence extracts issued for the same vehicle. At present, a single car can operate under multiple licences simultaneously. Critics say this allows a company that loses its licence to continue operating through another entity that holds extracts for the same fleet. The bill would curb that practice.

A nationwide taxi driver identifier is also planned. The document would confirm that a driver meets all requirements to carry passengers anywhere in the country. Industry representatives have long pushed for a central database covering drivers, vehicles, licences and medical checks, arguing it would make it easier to spot irregularities and police the market.

Political context

PiS MP Jarosław Krajewski welcomed the government's move, noting that his party tabled a similar bill a year ago. He expressed hope that the project would reach the Sejm quickly and become law as soon as possible. The current fine for allowing a driver without the required licence or medical checks to carry passengers is up to 40,000 złoty.