Rental car permit; application

Transportation with rental cars is the transportation of persons with passenger cars that are only rented for transportation as a whole and with which the entrepreneur carries out journeys whose purpose, destination and course are determined by the renter and which are not transportation with cabs and not bundled on-demand transportation.

This does not refer to the rental of vehicles to self-drivers.

You may only rent out the vehicle as a whole. The hirer (passenger) determines the purpose, destination and schedule of the trips.

You can obtain the permit for a maximum of five years. After that, you can apply for an extension.

Rental cars differ from cabs as follows:

• You may not keep rental cars available for passenger transportation in public places/on public roads. You must return to the company's place of business after each transportation.
• They have no obligation to operate or transport.
• The fare can be freely agreed. However, you must determine it using a distance meter.
• The color of the vehicles is not specified.
• The number of permits is not limited.
• You must affix a blue registration license plate to the rear window of your rental car; the registration number is issued by the licensing authority.

Commercial trips for the sick or disabled, for which professional care or special equipment of an ambulance is not necessary, are also subject to authorization according to the PBefG.

• The entrepreneur or the persons appointed to manage the company must be reliable.
• The entrepreneur or the persons appointed to manage the company must be professionally qualified.
• The company must be secure and financially viable.
• The registered office or branch of the company must be in Germany (in the sense of commercial law).

None

Note: If you wish to apply for an extension of the permit, you must submit a permit application with the required documents to the competent authority in good time before the expiry of the expiring permit.

• Proof of personal reliability (not older than three months at the time of application), e.g:
  • Extract from the Federal Central Register (certificate of good conduct)
  • Information from the central trade register
  • Extract from the central traffic register
• Extract from the commercial or cooperative register (certified copies)
• Copy of the articles of association and the list of shareholders
• for legal entities: Proof of authorization to represent
• Proof of financial standing (not older than three months at the time of application):
  • Clearance certificates from the tax office
  • Clearance certificate from the responsible municipality
  • Social security clearance certificate:
    • from health insurance funds with which you insure or have insured employees and
    • for yourself if you are or were voluntarily or privately insured.
  • Clearance certificate from the Employer's Liability Insurance Association for Transport and Traffic (not older than three months at the time of application)
  • Equity certificate and - if required - additional certificate (not older than twelve months at the time of application)
    • The amount of equity capital depends on the number of vehicles intended for use: For the first vehicle, you must provide proof of equity amounting to EUR 2,250, and EUR 1,250 for each additional vehicle.
• Proof of professional suitability:
  • Examination certificate from the IHK or
  • Certificate of competence from the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) for at least three years of managerial activity in a rental car company or
  • Certificate of the recognized equivalent final examination (e.g. commercial examination in rail and road transport with a focus on passenger transport)
• If you appoint other persons to manage the company, you must submit the following documents for them:
  • Certificate of good conduct
  • Information from the central trade register
  • Extract from the driving aptitude register
  • Proof of professional suitability
  • Proof of the employment relationship (employment contract)

The competent authority may request further documents.

Framework fee for the permit: EUR 50.00 - 500.00

For standard cases it is

• for the first vehicle: 60 EUR
• for each additional vehicle: 30 EUR

These amounts are not binding for the approval authority.

In the event of an excessively high administrative burden, the approval authority may deviate from this up to the maximum amount of the framework fee.

You may incur further costs for register information and the preparation of other evidence.

• § Section 49 (4) of the Passenger Transportation Act (PBefG)
• § Section 2(1)(4) of the Passenger Transportation Act (PBefG)

You must apply for the rental car permit at the responsible office. You can download an application form from the Internet, depending on what your competent authority offers.

The competent body conducts a hearing procedure. As part of this procedure, it requests opinions from other bodies, including

• Municipalities,
• Trade supervisory authorities,
• the Chamber of Industry and Commerce,
• the relevant trade unions and professional associations

After the deadline for comments has expired, it makes a final decision on the application and informs the applicant of the result in writing.

The responsible office will usually decide on your application within three months.

The period can be extended by a maximum of a further three months. The prerequisite for this is that the competent authority has announced this in good time (within the first three months) in a written interim decision.

• Cab permit; application
• Occasional transport by passenger car; application for a permit for excursions or vacation destination trips