Continuing training for VTC and taxi drivers: renewing your card
Your professional card does not roll over on its own. No course certificate, no new card.
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In France both the VTC (private-hire) card and the taxi card last 5 years. To renew either one, you take a 14-hour continuing training course, usually two days, at an approved training centre, and service-public, the official government information site, advises doing it 3 months before expiry. The ministerial order of 11 August 2017 sets the format: you must attend in person, the hours can be split into 4 half-days of 3.5 hours over no more than 2 months, three modules are compulsory (passenger transport law, taxi or VTC rules, road safety) and you pick one more. The centre hands you a certificate on the spot. VTC drivers then apply online through Démarches simplifiées, the government forms portal, pay about €60 for the new card and re-register on the VTC register. Taxi drivers take the same course, plus a 14-hour mobility course (35 hours for Paris) if they want to work outside the département where they passed the exam.
When must you take your continuing training course?
Take the 14-hour course before
December 2026
| Card expiry | March 2027 |
| Lead time advised by service-public | 3 months before expiry |
One deadline every five years
VTC and taxi cards share the same lifespan, 5 years, and the same renewal condition: proof that you completed continuing training. Service-public suggests taking the course 3 months before the expiry date. That is not padding. You need to find a session for your trade, attend it, get the certificate, apply, and wait for the card to be printed, and none of the official texts we read gives the prefecture a deadline for issuing it.
Enter your issue date in the calculator above to see your deadline month. The renewal calendar goes further and lines up the card, the register, the annual vehicle test and, for taxis, the licence on a single timeline.
The 14-hour course under the order of 11 August 2017
The rules for the course come from the order of 11 August 2017. It lasts 14 hours, taken either in one go over two days or split into 4 sessions of 3.5 hours within 2 months. Attendance is in person at an approved centre. Every session is set up for one audience only, taxi drivers or VTC drivers.
Three modules are compulsory and one is your choice:
- A: the law on passenger transport by taxi, VTC and motorbike taxi;
- B: rules specific to taxi work or to VTC work, depending on the session;
- C: road safety;
- plus one of D, English, E, business management and development, or F, first aid and civil protection.
When you finish, the centre gives you an attendance certificate straight away, dated and signed by its legal representative, on a durable medium. Keep a digital copy, since you need it for the card and again if the card is lost before the next cycle. There is no test at the end: the order speaks of a certificate of attendance, not a mark.
No regulation sets the price. Each approved centre charges what it likes, and we publish no figure because there is no official one. For VTC drivers, service-public points to the CMA (chamber of trades) website of your département for the list of centres; for taxi drivers, to the prefecture website.
VTC drivers: new card first, register next
Certificate in hand, you file the renewal on the Démarches simplifiées form; there is no paper route. The Imprimerie nationale, which prints the cards, then emails you to pay about €60, the same as a first card. The document list and the rules on displaying the card are on the VTC card page.
The new card triggers a second task that drivers often forget: registering again on the VTC register, which service-public requires every 5 years once the new card arrives. Since 27 June 2026 operators must also record their drivers, each driver’s card number and the number plates they run, so a changed card number has to be updated there too.
Taxi drivers: same course, plus mobility
For taxis the basic rule is the same: 14 hours of continuing training 3 months before the 5 years are up, in a session organised for taxi drivers. Geography is what sets taxis apart, because a taxi card only covers the département where you passed the exam.
To work elsewhere, you take a mobility course of 14 hours, or 35 hours for the Paris taxi zone, with at least 7 hours each on the local area and on local rules. You then fill in the mobility application and receive a new card, about €60, listing the départements where you may work, up to 4 according to service-public.
Some people pass the taxi exam and never apply for the card. There is no time limit, but if you apply more than 5 years after the exam, service-public requires a continuing training certificate under 5 years old.
| VTC | Taxi | |
|---|---|---|
| Card validity | 5 years, all of France | 5 years, exam département only |
| Renewal course | 14 h, VTC session | 14 h, taxi session |
| New card | about €60 | about €60 |
| Linked step | register again on the VTC register | none for the licence, per service-public |
| Changing area | not applicable | 14 h course (35 h for Paris), up to 4 départements |
What about the taxi licence?
The licence, officially an autorisation de stationnement (ADS), runs on its own track. Service-public says that once granted, the ADS is renewed automatically with no paperwork, so it does not hinge on the course. The same page adds a caveat for licences granted free of charge after 1 October 2014: they last 5 years, and renewal must be requested 3 months before they end. Transfer and rental rules are on the taxi licence page.
Mistakes that cost drivers their card
Leaving it to the final month is the classic one: sessions fill up and the old card lapses before the new one turns up. Driving with an invalid card carries a €1,500 fine according to service-public. Booking a session meant for the other trade is the second, since the order keeps them apart. For VTC drivers, the third is collecting the new card and forgetting the register.
Take a driver whose card was issued in August 2021: it expires in August 2026, so the course should have been done by May 2026. Every later cycle works the same way, which is why writing down your issue date once saves a lot of trouble.