The VTC register (REVTC): getting listed and staying compliant
The register does not license the driver, it lists the business that puts the car on the road; that business applies, pays and keeps the file current.
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France’s register of VTC operators, known by its French initials REVTC, lists every business allowed to run private-hire cars; article L3122-3 of the Transport Code makes being on it compulsory. You apply online only, on the Ministry of Transport’s register website, and pay €170, an amount set by an order of 30 December 2014 under a regulatory ceiling of €250. The file contains your professional liability insurance certificate, proof that the business is registered, the registration document of each car, the professional card of each driver and, for any car you neither own nor lease for more than 6 months, a €1500 financial guarantee. Registration follows within 2 months of a complete file, lasts 5 years and unlocks the VTC stickers. Since 27 June 2026 drivers and number plates must be declared on it, lending your entry to someone else is banned, and operating without one carries 3 years in prison and a €45000 fine.
Register entry: what you will pay or set aside
Fees and guarantee at the start
€205
| Register fee | €170 |
| Financial guarantee to evidence | €0 |
| Stickers (approx.) | €35 |
Registration must be renewed every 5 years.
What the register covers and who must join it
The register is about the operator (exploitant): the individual or company that puts a car and driver at customers’ disposal. Working alone as a micro-entrepreneur, you are the operator. If a company employs you, the company registers and declares you. The governing text is article L3122-3 of the Transport Code, rewritten by Law no. 2026-534 of 25 June 2026: it makes the register public, sets a 5-year validity and forbids handing your entry to anyone else.
The register is run nationally by the regional prefect of Île-de-France (article R3122-5), who publishes the list of registered operators online (article R3122-5-1). Customers, platforms and businesses booking rides can therefore check that a firm is legitimate. Applications go through the official VTC register website, in French, and nowhere else: there is no paper form and email applications are not accepted.
Applying to the REVTC, in order
- Gather everything before you start: the professional card in hand, the business registered, a signed insurance policy and the car’s registration document.
- Open an account on the register site and enter the operator’s details: civil status, occupation and home address for an individual; company name, legal form, address and legal representatives for a company (article R3122-1, I).
- Upload the scanned documents, one vehicle and one driver at a time.
- Pay the €170 online. Until you pay, the processing clock does not start.
- Wait for the registration certificate, then order your stickers from the same account.
Documents required by article R3122-1
Article R3122-1 asks for two documents with the application itself and a three-part file. In all, you will need:
- a professional liability insurance certificate (attestation de responsabilité civile professionnelle);
- proof of business registration: your Siren number, an extract from the national business register (RNE) or a Kbis extract;
- a copy of the registration document (carte grise) for each car;
- a copy of each driver’s professional card, both sides;
- proof of financial capacity for every vehicle.
For a first application, the card must already be in your hands, not merely applied for. How to get it is covered on the VTC driver card page.
The financial guarantee, and when you can skip it
Financial capacity is shown through a guarantee of €1,500 for each regularly used car. Two situations remove it: you own the car, or you lease it for more than 6 months, in which case the registration document in your name or the lease is enough. The guarantee itself is a written surety (caution) issued by a mutual guarantee society, an insurer or a bank.
In real life it is short-term rental, by the week or the month, that triggers the requirement. Three cars rented that way mean €4,500 to cover. The calculator near the top of the page works this out for your fleet, and the VTC vehicle page compares buying, long leases and short rentals.
Processing time, refusals and fees
The authority has 2 months from a complete file and payment (article R3122-2). It may refuse only if the file is still incomplete after a formal notice, or if the operator fails the conditions of article L3122-4; any refusal must give reasons and be served with proof of receipt.
The fee is €170, under the order of 30 December 2014, and article R3122-3 caps it at €250. Since the June 2026 law, article L3122-3 states that the fee is paid when you file a new or renewal application and that its amount is to be set by decree; as of 12 August 2026, service-public still showed €170.
After approval: the stickers
Once you are registered, your account lets you order the markings required by the order of 6 April 2017, about €35 per sticker. The register site first supplies a temporary PDF sticker valid for one month, placed in the bottom left corner of the windscreen. The two permanent stickers go at the front, bottom left on the driver’s side, and at the back, bottom right. Each shows the business’s register number and the car’s plate, so every change of car means a new order.
Keeping your account current: fifteen clear days
This is the duty drivers forget most. Article R3122-1 requires you to report to the register, electronically and within 15 clear days at most, any change to the information on file: moving house, a new car, a rental car handed back, a driver hired or leaving, stopping trading. “Clear days” (jours francs) means the day of the event itself is not counted. Service-public mentions three months; we go by the code, which is the shorter of the two and the binding text.
The code also allows extra vehicles or drivers on an exceptional basis for a trade fair, sporting, cultural, educational or political event, or a specific occasion that justifies it. The register must be told beforehand, with supporting documents, and the arrangement cannot exceed 1 month. The register site gives the same one-month limit for any temporary use of an extra car or driver.
What changed on 27 June 2026
Three changes took effect that day. First, operators have to declare their drivers, the drivers’ card numbers and the plates they run.
Second, lending an entry to a third party, free or for money, is now expressly banned. Service-public explains that an operator who does so becomes the driver’s employer, the arrangement being reclassified as an employment contract; the operator is struck off immediately, cannot re-register for up to 3 years, and its manager can be barred from running any registered operator for the same period. Article R3122-4 already provided for striking off in that case.
Third, service-public reports heavier penalties. Operating without registration now carries 3 years’ imprisonment and a €45,000 fine for an individual, €225,000 for a company. Courts can add a licence suspension of up to 5 years, immobilisation of the car for up to 1 year, its confiscation and a ban from certain places such as stations or airports.
| Situation | Legal basis | Consequence |
|---|---|---|
| Operating without registration | L3124-7 | 3 years, €45,000 (€225,000 for a company) |
| Lending or renting out your entry | L3122-3, L3124-8 | struck off, no re-registration for up to 3 years |
| Change not reported | R3122-1 | report due within 15 clear days |
| Conditions no longer met | R3122-4 | struck off after formal notice |
Renewing every five years
An entry lasts 5 years. Article R3122-2 guarantees renewal before expiry if you apply at least 3 months ahead and still meet the conditions. Because the professional card runs for the same length of time, service-public asks drivers to re-register as soon as the new card arrives, so in practice the two deadlines fall close together. The renewal calendar lines both dates up.
For questions about your file, the register’s helpline is 09 74 36 31 72. The rest of the journey, from the exam to your first fare, is on the becoming a VTC driver page, and the start-up cost calculator adds up register, card, exam and car.