How a driver works with a pre-booking platform in Spain: authorisation, requirements, how services arrive and what changes compared with street-hailing apps
A driver works with a pre-booking platform under their own authorisation or that of the company they drive for: a VTC transport card tied to a specific vehicle, or a municipal taxi licence. They also need a valid driving licence, the vehicle with its technical inspection and insurance up to date, and a compliant self-employed or employment status. Services reach them booked in advance with pickup, destination, time, passenger, luggage and the fixed price already set, and they accept them within their schedule instead of waiting for real-time requests. What changes compared with an on-demand app is predictability: they know beforehand what they will do and how much they will earn, and they do not drive around looking for customers.
Written by Ridelta - Taxi y VTC · reviewed on 27 October 2026
What authorisation is needed to carry passengers?
In Spain nobody may charge to carry people in a car without an administrative title: the chauffeured vehicle hire authorisation (the VTC card, issued by the region and tied to a vehicle registered in its holder's name) or the municipal taxi licence with its interurban authorisation. New VTC authorisations are limited by the ratio-to-taxi rule the law sets, so in most areas none are granted and anyone wanting to work as a VTC does so driving for a company that already holds authorisations, or buying an existing authorisation with its vehicle, a market with very different prices by area.
That is why a pre-booking platform works with three profiles: the self-employed holder of their own VTC authorisation, the fleet with several authorisations and employed drivers, and the taxi driver, self-employed or employed, who accepts booked services as well as street ones. For the platform all three are drivers; for the law, what counts is that the vehicle doing the service carries its authorisation in force and that the service is contracted beforehand, as the piece on pre-booking explains. What is not possible is driving without a title: a private individual with their car may not provide services, even occasionally.
What requirements apply to the driver and the vehicle?
The driver needs a valid category B driving licence, with the seniority the region or council where they operate requires; some regions have created a VTC driver accreditation or register with a course or an exam, and councils require taxi drivers to hold the municipal driver permit with its test on the city and the rules. Anyone who will regularly deal with minors — school services — also needs the clean certificate from the Central Register of Sexual Offenders. And, in employment terms, to be registered as self-employed in the relevant scheme or employed by the authorisation holder, because the platform is not the employer of someone driving under their own authorisation.
The vehicle must meet what its authorisation requires: for a VTC, the characteristics the region sets — maximum age, minimum power or length in some, the official badge —, the technical inspection with the reinforced periodicity for passenger vehicles and the liability and compulsory passenger insurance; for a taxi, in addition, the approved meter, the municipality's colours and badge. A serious platform asks for those documents at onboarding and asks again when they expire, which is why a passenger who books with it knows the car that arrives is compliant.
How do services arrive and how are they chosen?
Booked in advance. A customer books a transfer hours or days ahead, with origin, destination, time, passengers, luggage and a fixed price, and the platform offers it to the drivers working in that area with a suitable vehicle, with all the service details and what they will earn for it. The driver accepts it if it fits their schedule and their route, or lets it pass; once accepted, the service is theirs and the customer receives their name, vehicle and plate. Platforms publish in their terms how they allocate when several drivers want the same service and what happens if a driver cancels an accepted one.
The practical consequence is that the driver plans: they can chain a small-hours airport transfer with a mid-morning return pickup, accept the recurring services of a school or a company that repeat every week, and decline what does not pay. They do not wait in the car for a request to ring or drive around looking for customers, which the law forbids VTCs; they leave home at the time of the first service they already have. Time between services is theirs, and recurring business services are the predictable base on which one-off transfers are added.
How is the driver paid and how is it invoiced?
Per service performed. The customer pays the fixed price to the platform or the driver depending on each one's model, and the platform settles to the driver or the fleet what the published terms establish for each service, within the stated periods, with a per-service breakdown that lets each payment be matched to each trip. The platform publishes its commission or remuneration model on its drivers page and in the agreement it signs with each one; this piece does not write it because it is a figure read there, not a fixed sector number.
For tax, the self-employed driver invoices their service at the reduced VAT rate for passenger transport, as the piece on VAT and invoicing explains, and the platform, if it charges an intermediation commission, invoices that for its part at the general rate; the fleet invoices for its vehicles and pays its drivers through payroll. The record of each service, with its communication to the national register in the VTC's case, is also the documentary basis of invoicing: no service without a trace and no payment without a service.
What changes compared with an on-demand app?
The essence is time. In on-demand apps the driver is online waiting for requests that arrive with minutes to spare, accepts in seconds often without knowing the destination, and their income depends on hours online and the surge price of the moment; it is a model that works in dense big cities and that regional pre-booking rules have been narrowing. In pre-booking, the driver knows each service in advance, with destination and price, and decides; their income depends on the services they accept, not the hours they wait.
It also has its demands: a service accepted days ahead is a commitment, and punctuality — above all for a small-hours flight or a train — is what defines the driver in this model; a late cancellation leaves a passenger without a car at five in the morning and platforms treat it harshly in their terms. In return, the driver works outside the big cities, where street apps have no density, and for customers who chose their service in advance. This platform's drivers page details the specific requirements, the documents it asks for at onboarding and its remuneration model; this piece explains the framework in which all of that happens.
Frequently asked questions
Can I carry passengers with my private car?
No. In Spain carrying passengers for a price requires a VTC authorisation tied to the vehicle or a taxi licence; without a title no service may be provided, even occasionally.
How do I get a VTC authorisation?
New ones are limited by the taxi ratio and in most areas none are granted; the usual route is driving for a company that already holds them or acquiring an existing authorisation with its vehicle. A taxi driver works under their municipal licence.
Do I have to stay online waiting for services?
No. Services arrive booked in advance and are accepted within the driver's schedule; once accepted, the day is planned around them. Driving around looking for customers is forbidden for VTCs.
How much does the driver earn per service?
What the platform's published terms establish for each service, with an itemised settlement; the commission or remuneration model is read on its drivers page and in the agreement, not a fixed sector figure.
Can a taxi driver work with a pre-booking platform?
Yes. A taxi may accept booked services at a fixed price as well as street and rank work, under its municipal licence and its interurban authorisation to leave the municipality.
Sources
- Ley 16/1987, de Ordenación de los Transportes Terrestres: títulos habilitantes para el transporte de viajeros y arrendamiento con conductor (consulted on 27 October 2026)
- Real Decreto 1211/1990, Reglamento de la LOTT, y Real Decreto-ley 13/2018: proporción, precontratación y competencias autonómicas (consulted on 27 October 2026)
- Real Decreto 1057/2015, régimen de las autorizaciones de arrendamiento de vehículos con conductor (consulted on 27 October 2026)
- Ley Orgánica 1/1996, artículo 13.5: certificado negativo del Registro Central de Delincuentes Sexuales para profesiones con contacto habitual con menores (consulted on 27 October 2026)
How we write, where the figures come from and how we correct an error: editorial policy.
Driver and vehicle requirements are set by national, regional and municipal rules and change; this piece explains the general framework. This platform's specific requirements, onboarding documents and remuneration model are on its drivers page and are not written here.