Driving guests in Republika Srpska: when you need a passenger transport licence

A guesthouse, agency or farm that drives guests should first check whether the ride is paid for or agreed by contract. If it is, the ride is public transport and needs a carrier licence.

The rules below come from the Law on Road Transport of Republika Srpska (Sl. glasnik RS 47/17, amended 17/23). We found no later amendment. Check the current text with the Ministry before you invest in a vehicle.

In short

• Public transport is carrying people for a fee. Only a carrier with a licence from the Ministarstvo saobraćaja i veza (Ministry of Transport and Communications) may do it. The licence is valid for 10 years and the fee is 70 KM.
• For a licence for public non-scheduled transport (excursions, transfers of groups booked in advance), the law requires at least one bus, meaning a vehicle with more than eight seats besides the driver's. A van with eight passenger seats is not a bus, and it does not meet the M2 condition for "own needs" transport either. It is too large for a taxi licence, which allows at most four passenger seats. Ask the Ministry before you buy or use a van.
• Fines for banned public transport: 5,000 to 15,000 KM for a company, 3,000 to 9,000 KM for a sole trader or private person. For a repeat offence, the vehicle must be confiscated permanently.
• Free transport of your own guests is expressly allowed for hotels, motels and resorts, under the conditions below.
• Public transport requires passenger accident insurance on top of compulsory vehicle liability insurance.

Who it applies to

• Anyone who drives guests for a separate or agreed fee, except hotels, motels and resorts that meet the "own needs" conditions. The law does not say clearly whether a transfer included in a package price counts as a paid ride. Ask the Ministry about such a case.
• The law bans a person without carrier status from public transport that is repeated (two or more times a day, week or month) for different groups on the same or a similar route. It names a contracted or paid service, door-to-door rides and advertising as signs of banned transport. An inspector may also check who pays for the fuel for the kilometres driven.
• The law treats a paid ride in a passenger car as taxi transport. You need a taxi licence and a driver's card (legitimacija), both issued by the municipality or city, a registered business with taxi transport as its main occupation, and a car with at most four passenger seats (saloon or estate, up to 15 years old). A taxi may only operate in and from the municipality or city where it is based, unless a local rule allows otherwise. A municipal taxi decision also applies. We have not checked the one for Trebinje.
• An agency without its own licence hires a licensed carrier. For each trip the carrier signs one numbered contract with one client, and the contract must be kept in the bus. The contract is certified at the municipality or by a notary when the client is a private person who is not a registered sole trader.
• A ride across a border (to an airport in Croatia or Montenegro) is international transport, and a ride into the Federation of BiH or Brčko District is inter-entity transport (article 14a, added by the 17/23 amendment). Besides this law, the Law on International and Inter-entity Road Transport (Zakon o međunarodnom i međuentitetskom drumskom prevozu) applies to them, and we have not covered it here.

What to do

If you want to carry guests for a fee yourself:

1. Register passenger transport as your activity, as a sole trader or company.
2. Get a bus (owned or leased), a qualified driver employed by you who holds a driver's card (legitimacija), and a transport manager (šef prevoza) with a certificate of professional competence. That certificate is issued by the Faculty of Transport in Doboj (Saobraćajni fakultet Doboj).
3. Apply to the Ministry. Attach a certified copy of the registration decision, a certified copy of the tax ID certificate (JIB and PIB), a statement about your business premises, extracts from the criminal and misdemeanour records for the company, its responsible person or the sole trader, and for the transport manager (not older than three months), proof of assets of at least 17,600 KM for the first vehicle and 9,780 KM for each further one, a tax clearance (not older than 30 days) and proof that the transport manager is engaged. The insurance law also requires proof of a passenger insurance contract.
4. Request a licence extract (izvod iz licence) for each vehicle: a certified copy of the vehicle registration certificate and a 10 KM fee. Keep the contract and a trip sheet with the passenger list (name and ID number) in the vehicle, and put a "Vanlinijski prevoz" sign on the windscreen. Passengers get on and off at bus stations, except at places the municipality designates.

If you carry guests free of charge as a hotel, motel or resort:

1. The ride must be free and only for users of your hospitality or tourism package. You may not pick up other passengers on the way. No licence is needed for this transport.
2. The vehicle must be category M2 (more than eight seats besides the driver's, maximum mass five tonnes), owned or leased. The driver must be employed by the vehicle's owner or user.
3. Have a certified passenger list before departure and a "Prevoz za vlastite potrebe" sign on the vehicle. A company or sole trader must have passenger transport entered as an activity class.
4. Travel agencies and family farms are not named in article 59(1), which defines who may carry people for own needs. Ask the Ministry or an inspector whether the rule covers you before you rely on it.

Deadlines and amounts

• Fines for banned public transport (article 17) are listed under "In short".
• Carrying people without meeting the conditions (registration, vehicle, licence, driver) is fined 5,000 to 15,000 KM for a company and 2,000 to 6,000 KM for a sole trader or private person. The driver can be fined 150 to 450 KM for this. For a repeat offence, the vehicle may be confiscated.
• Passenger insurance, minimum sums per passenger: 9,000 KM for death, 18,000 KM for permanent disability, 4,500 KM for temporary incapacity and treatment. It is also compulsory for taxis. The insurer's details must be displayed in the vehicle.
• Transport without passenger insurance is fined 2,500 to 7,500 KM for a company and 500 to 1,500 KM for a sole trader.
• The licence application goes to the Ministry of Transport and Communications. Neither the law nor the form states a decision deadline, so ask the Ministry.

Where to go

• Ministarstvo saobraćaja i veza Republike Srpske, Trg Republike Srpske 1, Banja Luka, phone 051 339-603. The licence and licence extract forms are on the Zahtjevi page.
• Taxi licence: the municipality or city where the carrier is based.
• Supervision: Republička uprava za inspekcijske poslove (Republic Inspectorate), through its traffic inspectors.

Laws and sources

• Law on Road Transport of Republika Srpska (Službeni glasnik RS 47/17), articles 2, 4, 8, 9, 10, 48, 50, 55, 57, 59, 61
• Law amending the Law on Road Transport of Republika Srpska (Službeni glasnik RS 17/23): new article 14a and amended articles 17, 47, 49, 59 and 65
• Law on Compulsory Insurance in Traffic (Službeni glasnik RS 82/15, 78/20, 1/24 and 67/26), articles 16, 18, 64, 65
• Application for a carrier licence and for a licence extract, with the list of documents (Ministry of Transport and Communications)