Driving for Bolt in France: Bolt’s checklist, item by item
Bolt publishes a precise list of documents; each one stands for a piece of French paperwork the app will not do for you.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources
In France, Bolt takes both VTC (licensed private-hire) drivers and taxi drivers. For a VTC driver, its help centre, read on 4 October 2026, asks for a valid professional VTC card, an identity document or residence permit, a driving licence, a photo taken in the app, a Kbis company extract or, for a micro-entrepreneur, a Sirene registration notice, a professional liability certificate, proof of entry on the VTC register, the car’s registration document, its green card, a certificate of insurance for paid passengers and the VTC sticker. A taxi driver supplies a taxi card and taxi licence (ADS) instead. For the car, the basic category follows the law: under 7 years for petrol or diesel, 4 doors, 84 kW, with hybrids and electric cars exempt. Earnings are calculated weekly, Monday to Sunday. Bolt publishes no commission rate on these pages. This is an independent site, not affiliated with Bolt.
Your weekly payout and what becomes of it
Estimated payout for the week
€975
| Net per hour logged in, after costs and contributions | €5.51 |
| Estimated net per month, before income tax | €950 |
| Contributions per month | €974 |
The payout covers Monday 00:00 to Sunday 23:59, according to Bolt’s help centre. Commission and costs: your assumptions.
Independent site. taxinoir.fr has no commercial link with Bolt; Bolt is a trademark of its owner. The following draws on pages published by Bolt and read on 4 October 2026. It is for guidance only: check with Bolt before committing.
Bolt’s document list, and the paperwork behind each item
Bolt’s help centre lists the documents required from a private driver, meaning a VTC. None of them comes from Bolt: each is the result of a step completed earlier, often weeks earlier.
| Document Bolt asks for | Where it comes from | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| Valid VTC card | the prefecture, after the chamber of trades’ exam | VTC card |
| ID or residence permit, driving licence | your own papers; licence past its probationary period | becoming a VTC driver |
| ID photo taken in the app | the app | no prior step |
| Kbis, or Sirene notice for a micro-entrepreneur | registering your business | VAT and status |
| Professional liability certificate | your insurer | VTC insurance |
| VTC register certificate | the Ministry of Transport’s register | VTC register |
| Registration document, green card, paid-passenger certificate | the car and its insurer | choosing a car |
| VTC badge (sticker) | ordered from your register account | VTC sticker |
The real order is the administration’s, not the app’s: exam, card, business, insurance, car, register, sticker. Opening a Bolt account before you have the card saves no time. If you come from abroad, your residence permit must allow self-employed work; check that at the prefecture, not with the platform.
Taxi drivers on Bolt
Bolt also publishes a list for taxi drivers. It swaps the VTC card for the professional taxi card and adds proof of the taxi licence (autorisation de stationnement, ADS). The app changes nothing about taxi status: regulated fares apply in the licensed area, and a prior booking is required outside it. Our page on becoming a taxi driver covers those rules.
Vehicle categories
Bolt’s vehicle requirements page sets three basics for every car: registration document, green card and VTC badge. Then come the categories:
- Bolt (standard): the order of 26 March 2015, so under 7 years for petrol or diesel, 4 to 9 seats, 4 doors, 4.50 m by 1.70 m and 84 kW, with no size limit for hybrids and EVs;
- Comfort: car under 7 years old and a rating of at least 4.6 out of 5;
- Premium: under 7 years, 84 kW, rating of at least 4.7 out of 5, in a list of cities;
- Green: hybrid or electric cars;
- Van and XL: 6 to 9 seats, in some cities.
Bolt adds that a car over twelve years old may be assessed from photos if it is in perfect condition. That can only apply to a hybrid or EV, since the law rules out a petrol car of that age. Our guide to choosing a VTC car compares these rules with other apps.
Bolt publishes the list of cities where it operates on its website; check it before investing, because not every category runs everywhere.
Weekly payouts
Bolt’s help centre describes a weekly cycle: earnings are calculated automatically from Monday 00:00 to Sunday 23:59, then paid out in the first half of the following week, with one to two working days of bank delay. The driver page presents these payouts as net of commission, without stating the rate.
The calculator follows that rhythm. Enter one week’s fares at the price riders paid, your commission assumption and your hours logged in: it estimates the week’s payout, then what is left per hour and per month after example car costs and micro-enterprise contributions. It is an estimate based on your assumptions, not a figure from Bolt.
What the law guarantees on any app
Bolt is bound by the same rules as every VTC platform. Articles R1326-1 to R1326-10 of the Transport Code require the driver to be told, before accepting a ride, the distance and the minimum guaranteed price after commission. Agreements reached under the ARPE set, according to service-public, a minimum of €9 per ride, €30 per hour worked and €1 per kilometre on a ride.
Status: one figure to update
Bolt publishes an article on choosing a legal status, covering sole traders, micro-enterprises and companies. It mentions a €77,700 turnover limit for the micro-enterprise, which was the 2025 threshold. For 2026, the Urssaf sets the services threshold at €83,600. A micro-entrepreneur pays 21.2 % of turnover in contributions, plus 0.3 % towards vocational training. The VAT and status tool helps you choose, and the net income calculator shows the outcome.
To compare with other apps, see driving for Uber and driving for Heetch.