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An uber customer opens the e-hailing app.
The law governing e-hailing services in South Africa is coming into effect on Friday. Under the new law, e-hailing drivers will no longer need to use charter permits and metre taxi operating licenses, and will instead receive an official e-hailing operating license.
According to the National Department of Transport, the law will be gazetted for implementation on Friday.
The gazette will operationalise the National Land Transport Amendment Act (NLTA), which was signed by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2024.
Department of Transport spokesperson, Collen Msibi, says some of the regulations include panic buttons as well as specific branding for the e-hailing vehicles.
“So they’re gonna be very specific in terms of where you should operate. Two, you need to have an operating license, also the driver must have a PDP. It is also important that the APP that is being used must be registered with the regulator, and if it is not registered, there are hefty fines which have been prescribed – about R100 000. If you operate illegally, I think you face two years in imprisonment.”
Msibi adds, “What is also important is the issue of safety. We are saying that we are prescribing the issue of panic buttons for both the driver and the passenger, so that we ensure their safety, because that’s been the major concern.”
