The Finnish Transport and Communications Agency (Traficom) has cancelled more than 2,000 taxi licenses. According Traficom, most of the cancellations were due to the fact that the license holders had not acquired the required professional qualifications by an end-of-April deadline.
By the end of October, more than 1,500 taxi licenses had been revoked for failure to sit an exam.
"License holders had a year to acquire the required qualifications. They were reminded of the requirement throughout the year and at an accelerating pace even during the spring, but even so, when checks began in May, the exam had not yet been completed by approximately 2,000 taxi license holders or persons responsible for taxi traffic," stated Sari Veija, head of Traficom's professional transport service, in a Wednesday press release.
Exam fraud
Profession taxi licensing exams are set by Traficom and carried out by the agency's service provider, Ajovarma.
Starting in the summer of 2021, participants caught cheating on the exam can be banned from retaking the test for six months.
According to Traficom, so far 46 bans have been imposed. The most common reason for the ban has been the use of a mobile phone to make a voice or video connection as an aid to completing the exam. The most common reasons for trying to cheat have been the participant's insufficient knowledge of subjects related to the profession of taxi driving, or a lack of language skills.
No business ID
In addition, Traficom cancelled slightly more than 500 taxi licenses because the license holders did not have business IDs. As of May 2021, one of the conditions for issuing a taxi license has been a valid, registered business identification number.
The requirement also applies to taxi license holders whose permits were issued before the law came into force.