Taxi driver training 2026: content, remote training and provider

1 November 2026 · Taksiuutiset editorial team

The taxi driver training, in everyday language the taxi course or taxi training, lasts at least 21 hours and covers five topics: assisting passengers and safety, the special needs of different passenger groups, customer service situations in taxi services, the rights and duties of the driver, and factors affecting the safety of transport and traffic. The theory part can be taken remotely if you can ask the trainer questions in real time, but independent online training may be at most 7 hours and practical teaching is always in person. Only a training organisation operating with a Traficom licence may provide the training.

Note: The training is given in Finnish, and the taxi driver exam is held only in Finnish or Swedish (Traficom regulation, section 3), with no interpreter or dictionary allowed.

In brief

Length: at least 21 hours (Act 612/2026, section 25 a).
Content: five topics, which section 4 of the Traficom regulation opens up item by item.
Remote: theory as remote training is possible on conditions, online training at most 7 hours, practical teaching always in person.
Provider: a training organisation operating with a Traficom licence.
Certificate and entry: the provider gives a certificate on request free of charge, and the completion is entered in the register of transport matters (liikenneasioiden rekisteri).
When mandatory: according to Traficom, getting to the exam requires the 21-hour training from 1 November 2026.

What is learned in the 21-hour training

By law, the taxi driver training must include teaching on five topics. The same five topics are also in the exam, which is covered in Taxi driver exam: 60 questions, 45 minutes. The Traficom regulation Taksiliikenteen koulutukset (taxi transport training) lists in section 4 what is covered in each topic.

The five topics of the taxi driver training
Topic	According to the regulation, the training covers
1. Assisting passengers and ensuring safety	Different ways and methods of interaction. Recognising the customer's individual need for help and responding to it at the start, during and at the end of the ride. Respecting the customer's privacy and integrity, also with customers with functional limitations and others who need special support.
2. Special needs of different passenger groups	Awareness of different functional limitations and other customer groups that need special support. Understanding the effects of functional limitations from the point of view of using taxi services.
3. Customer service situations in taxi services	The importance of the whole customer service package and its effect on how the customer experiences the quality of the service. Respect for the customer.
4. Rights and duties of the driver	Maintaining the company's reputation. Social legislation concerning the taxi driver. The taxi driver's occupational safety. The customer's safety.
5. Factors affecting the safety of transport and traffic	Promoting the customer's sense of safety, among other things through a safe driving style and driving behaviour that takes travel comfort into account. The driver's safe behaviour in traffic. Emergency first aid and action in an accident.

With the search words taksikurssi, taksikoulutus or taksikuski koulutus people usually mean exactly this training. The name in the law is taksinkuljettajan koulutus (taxi driver training). What happens after the training: Taxi driver licence step by step.

Can the taxi course be taken remotely

The taxi driver training can be taken partly remotely. The Traficom regulation separates three ways of organising the teaching.

In-person training: the trainer and the trainee are physically in the same room.
Remote training: you take the theory training with the help of information and communication technology, for example in a virtual classroom, and you can ask the trainer questions in real time.
Online training: you complete the theory teaching independently online, and you have no chance to ask the trainer questions in real time.

According to the regulation, at most seven hours of the training can be given as online training. Practical teaching must always be completed as in-person training. The regulation sets no hour limit for remote training, but it sets conditions for remote and online training:

the training organisation must have an interface in which the training can be supervised in real time,
every lesson includes at least one task in which every trainee must take part, and feedback on the task is given immediately,
the remote trainer must have sufficient technical skills in using the system.

In addition, the trainer must make sure that everyone takes part properly for the whole length of the training, and the provider must reliably verify your identity. In practice, the remote option depends on how the provider's training programme has been carried out. Before you sign up, ask which part is in-person teaching, which is remote and which is independent online training.

Who may organise taxi driver training

Only a training organisation operating with a Traficom licence. The Act on Transport Services (section 35 a, the wording of the temporary Act 613/2026) requires a licence from the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency for organising taxi driver training, supplementary training, special group driver training and entrepreneur training. Traficom grants the licence on application to a training organisation that meets the educational and professional conditions, is not bankrupt, has not neglected taxes or statutory pension, accident and unemployment insurance contributions, and has a training programme confirmed by Traficom. A confirmed training programme is valid for at most five years.

Anyone who runs training without a licence can be sentenced to a fine (section 265), and Traficom supervises the providers that have received a licence (section 193 a). If you want to verify a provider, ask the training organisation or Traficom directly. Traficom's training programme application page does not link to a public list of providers (read on 31 October 2026), so this article has no list.

Certificate and register entry

According to section 3.1 of the Traficom regulation, entering the training in the register of transport matters requires that you have taken part in the teaching in its entirety. The provider must reliably verify the trainees' identity and give, on request, a certificate of completing the training without delay and free of charge.

By law, the provider notifies Traficom of the details of those who completed the training and the amount of teaching given, and the details are entered in the register of transport matters (section 36 b). The notification is made within two weeks of completing the training. According to the Traficom regulation on exams, a person coming to the exam must have completed the training required for the exam and have the entry in the register of transport matters. Ask the provider when the entry is made before you book the exam.

When the training is mandatory

Act 612/2026 entered into force on 1 September 2026. The transitional provision under which a licence could be granted without training while no training was available was valid until 31 October 2026 at most. Traficom says that from 1 November 2026 getting to the taxi driver exam requires completing the 21-hour training, and that an exam taken without training between 1 September and 31 October 2026 is valid only until 31 October 2026. More: A 21-hour training course is required for the first taxi driver licence. The course of the exam and the minimum scores: Taxi driver exam: 60 questions, 45 minutes. You can also read about the exam on the Taksinkuljettajan koe page of Taksikoeharjoitus.fi (in Finnish). Costs of the training and the exam: How much does a taxi driver licence cost in 2026.

The difference from the 7-hour supplementary training and the special group training

There are three different trainings in the taxi sector, and they are easily mixed up. The table separates them.

Three different trainings
Training	For whom and when	Length and content
Taxi driver training	For those applying for a first driver licence. Taking the exam requires the training (section 25 a).	At least 21 hours. Five topics, which are opened up in section 4 of the regulation.
Supplementary training	For those renewing a driver licence. Act 613/2026 is valid from 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2034, and Traficom says the supplementary training is part of renewal from 1 November 2026. Taken only once, and not required if you have completed the 21-hour training (section 26 b).	At least 7 hours. The same five topics in a deepening form, section 5 of the regulation. The list is narrower than in the basic training: for example, emergency first aid is mentioned in section 4 of the basic training but not in section 5 of the supplementary training.
Special group driver training	Its own training with its own content, section 6 of the regulation. According to Taksiliitto (the Finnish taxi federation), it is intended especially for carrying Kela and social and health care customers.	According to Taksiliitto, the full training is 21 hours and includes theory and practice. The regulation requires practical exercises, for example using a wheelchair lift and ramp and securing a wheelchair in the vehicle.

The content of the special group training is not part of the taxi driver training. For example, using a wheelchair lift and the special questions of school and day care transport are in section 6 of the regulation, not in the list of section 4. The supplementary training and renewal are covered in Licence renewal: 7-hour supplementary training.

Frequently asked questions

What is learned in the taxi course, that is, the taxi driver training?

The training lasts at least 21 hours and includes five topics: assisting passengers and safety, the special needs of different passenger groups, customer service situations in taxi services, the rights and duties of the driver, and factors affecting the safety of transport and traffic. The Traficom regulation specifies the content of each topic.

Can taxi training be taken remotely?

Partly. According to the Traficom regulation, the theory teaching can be given as remote training if the trainee can ask the trainer questions in real time. Independent online training may be at most seven hours, and practical teaching must always be taken in person. Ask the provider how its training programme has been carried out.

Who may organise taxi driver training?

Only a training organisation operating with a Traficom licence and having a training programme confirmed by Traficom. Training without a licence is punishable by a fine.

Do I get a certificate of the training?

According to the Traficom regulation, the training organisation must give, on request, a certificate of completing the training without delay and free of charge. In addition, the provider notifies Traficom of your completion, and the information is entered in the register of transport matters. At the exam site you need the completed training and the entry in the register.

What is the difference between the taxi driver training, the supplementary training and the special group training?

The taxi driver training (at least 21 hours) is needed before the first exam. The supplementary training (at least 7 hours) is part of renewing the driver licence, and you take it only once. The special group driver training is its own training, whose content is defined in section 6 of the Traficom regulation.

Sources

Sources read on 31 October 2026. This article is general information, not legal advice.