Uber or Bolt driver: which driving licence, licence and app verification?
Short answer
To carry passengers through an app, you need a Polish driving licence (Article 39a(1)(2) of the Road Transport Act). You do not need a licence yourself if you drive for a carrier that has one. The carrier licence is issued by the starosta (head of the county), and the app, as an intermediary, has a separate licence from the Chief Inspector of Road Transport (Główny Inspektor Transportu Drogowego) and may pass jobs only to licensed carriers (Article 5d). From 17 June 2024 the app must check the driver's Polish driving licence, and during the cooperation, at least once every 50 rides and no less than once every 7 days, it checks with a photo of your face that it is you driving (Article 27e).
In this guide: Polish driving licence, carrier and intermediary licence, photo check every 50 rides. What the Road Transport Act says and who is responsible for documents.
Who this applies to
- Drivers who carry passengers in a car on jobs from an app, for example Uber, Bolt or FreeNow.
- Drivers who drive for a carrier on an employment contract (umowa o pracę), a contract of mandate (umowa zlecenia) or their own business (B2B). In practice such a carrier is often a fleet partner (partner flotowy, an intermediary company between you and the app).
- Drivers who have their own business and want to be a carrier themselves.
- Foreigners who have a driving licence from another country. You can read more about legal work in the guide Foreigner as a courier or app driver: legal work and your rights.
This guide concerns passenger transport. We do not describe here the requirements for couriers who deliver food or parcels.
What to do
- Check who the carrier is. The Act creates a three-party arrangement: the app (intermediary) passes jobs to a carrier with a licence, and the carrier performs the transport through drivers (Article 5c(1)(4) and Article 5d). If you sign a contract with a fleet partner, the partner is usually the carrier and it is the partner that must have the licence. A licence for transport by car is granted for a period of 2 to 50 years (Article 5b(1) and (3), Article 7(4)(2)).
- Make sure you have a Polish driving licence. A driver who personally carries passengers in a car must have an entitlement "confirmed by a driving licence issued in the country". A driving licence from another country, including a European Union country, is not enough for this work.
- If you have a foreign driving licence, check whether you can exchange it. According to gov.pl, a person who has lived in Poland for at least 185 days can apply for an exchange. The application is submitted at the county office (starostwo powiatowe), the office of a city with county rights, or a district office in Warsaw. Check the current list of documents and the fee on the page gov.pl: exchange of a foreign driving licence. An international driving licence cannot be exchanged.
- Prepare for verification in the app. Before the app starts cooperating with you, it checks your identity, your Polish driving licence and your criminal record. It does this with you present in person, takes a photo of your face and digital copies of your documents, and also checks the driving licence in the central register of drivers (Article 27e(1)-(6)). The criminal record certificate cannot be older than one month.
- Expect photo checks during work. The app checks at least once every 50 rides, and no less than once every 7 days, whether the ride is being performed by the person it was assigned to (Article 27e(7)). Do not share your account with anyone. Someone else driving on your account breaks these rules.
- Check that there are no obstacles. A carrier receives a licence only when the drivers driving on its behalf, also on a contract of mandate or B2B, have not been finally convicted of specified offences (among others, against life and health, sexual freedom and decency, certain drug offences) and are not banned from working as a driver (Article 5c(1)(4)). The driver must also meet the health and psychological requirements under Article 39a(1)(3)-(4).
- Ask for a copy of the contract and record who you work with. Keep the contract with the carrier, the company's details and settlement confirmations. They will be useful if a dispute about pay arises. See Fleet partner does not pay or makes deductions: what to do?.
Exceptions and caveats
- Category B: no initial qualification. The age requirements under the Road Transport Act and the initial qualification and periodic training of drivers do not apply to drivers of vehicles for which a category B driving licence is enough (Article 39a(4)). The Polish driving licence and health requirements still apply.
- Two dates. The Polish driving licence requirement was written into Article 39a(1)(2) by the 2023 act. Formally it started to apply on 1 July 2023, and the app's obligation to check it applies from 17 June 2024.
- Own licence. If you run a business and want to accept jobs from the app without a partner as intermediary, you must have a carrier licence from the starosta yourself. The app checks the carrier's licence before starting cooperation (Article 27b(1)).
- The app's licence. Acting as an intermediary in passenger transport requires a licence granted by the Chief Inspector of Road Transport (Article 5b(2)(2), Article 7(4)(4)). The GITD keeps a public register of intermediaries (Article 27d). A driver may not perform transport on the order of an intermediary that has no licence (Article 27c).
- Penalties for the app. An intermediary that fails to verify a driver under Article 27e(1) pays a penalty of PLN 10,000, and PLN 50,000 on a repeat finding. It is imposed by the Chief Inspector of Road Transport (Article 95f).
- Your data. The app keeps the driver's data for 5 years from the end of the year in which the cooperation ended (Article 27e(9)). It may pass it to another intermediary at that intermediary's request, in order to ensure the safety of transport (Article 27e(10)).
- What this Act does not regulate. The Road Transport Act does not say anything about pay, working time or blocking of drivers' accounts. We describe these matters in the guides Courier or app driver: who is your employer and what contract do you have? and The Platform Work Directive: what will change for couriers and drivers?.
Example
Assumptions: a person has lived in Poland for over a year and has a category B driving licence issued in another country. She wants to carry passengers through an app. A fleet partner offers her a contract of mandate. The person does not have her own business.
- The person asks the partner whether it has a carrier licence from the starosta. Without it, the app cannot pass jobs to the partner.
- She checks on gov.pl whether she can exchange her driving licence for a Polish one and submits an application at the county office competent for her place of residence.
- Until she has a Polish driving licence, she does not perform rides. The app should not admit her anyway, because it must check the Polish driving licence before starting cooperation.
- After the exchange, she comes in person for verification with her driving licence, identity document and a current criminal record certificate.
- During work the app asks for a photo of her face from time to time. She takes it herself and does not let anyone use her account.
Documents and deadlines
| What | Who and legal basis |
|---|---|
| Carrier licence (car) | the carrier, from the starosta, for 2-50 years (Article 5b(1), Article 7(4)(2)) |
| Intermediary licence (app) | the app, from the Chief Inspector of Road Transport (Article 5b(2)(2)) |
| Polish driving licence | the driver (Article 39a(1)(2)) |
| Criminal record certificate | not older than one month (Article 8(3)(4), Article 27e) |
| Verification before cooperation | the app, in person (Article 27e(1)-(6)) |
| Face photo verification | at least once every 50 rides, no less than once every 7 days (Article 27e(7)) |
| Keeping the driver's data | 5 years from the end of the year the cooperation ended (Article 27e(9)) |
Frequently asked questions
Do I need my own licence?
No, if you drive for a carrier that has a licence. The Act expressly covers people who are not employed by the carrier but personally perform transport on its behalf. You must have a licence yourself only when you are the carrier, that is, you accept jobs from the app through your own business.
Is a driving licence from a European Union country enough?
According to gov.pl, a driving licence from a European Union country is valid in Poland, so you can drive with it. For carrying passengers through an app, however, it is not enough. Article 39a(1)(2) requires an entitlement confirmed by a driving licence issued in the country, that is, in Poland.
Who is responsible if my documents were not checked?
The app, as the intermediary, has the duty of verification and faces a penalty for failing it. The carrier is responsible for ensuring that drivers driving on its behalf meet the licence conditions. You are responsible for having the required driving licence and for not driving on someone else's account.
Related guides
- Courier or app driver: who is your employer and what contract do you have?
- Foreigner as a courier or app driver: legal work and your rights
- Fleet partner does not pay or makes deductions: what to do?
- Contract of mandate or employment contract? How to check what really binds the parties
Sources (documents in Polish)
- Ustawa z 6.09.2001 o transporcie drogowym, t.j. Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1490 ze zm., tekst ujednolicony ISAP (art. 4 pkt 24, 5b, 5c, 5d, 7, 8, 27b-27e, 39a, 95f)
- Ustawa o transporcie drogowym, metadane ELI
- Ustawa z 26.05.2023 o zmianie ustawy - Prawo o ruchu drogowym oraz niektórych innych ustaw, Dz.U. 2023 poz. 1123 (art. 27e, art. 39a ust. 1 pkt 2, terminy wejścia w życie)
- Metadane ELI ustawy Dz.U. 2023 poz. 1123
- gov.pl, Wymień zagraniczne prawo jazdy na polskie
Sources checked on 15 October 2026. Law as at 15 October 2026.
Change history
- 15 October 2026: First publication.
This guide is for information only. The current legal provisions and the information of the National Labour Inspectorate apply. An independent information website. We are not the National Labour Inspectorate (Państwowa Inspekcja Pracy).