Recurring transfers for companies, schools and clinics: what a fixed service is, how it is contracted and what the law requires when carrying minors or patients
A fixed or recurring service is the same transfer repeated on a calendar: staff shifts, school activities, regular treatments, the train every Monday. It is contracted once, with an agreed price per service that is not recalculated daily, a calendar marking the days it does not run — holidays, leave, an absence —, one or more regular drivers who know the route and the people, and a monthly invoice itemising each day. When minors travel without their parents, or people who need support, Spanish law adds requirements — guardians' authorisation, an escort in some cases, child restraints, a sexual offences certificate for anyone regularly dealing with minors — which the contract must cover from the start.
Written by Ridelta - Taxi y VTC · reviewed on 27 October 2026
What sets a fixed service apart from booking every day?
Three things: the price, the calendar and the people. The price is agreed once for the trip and the agreed conditions and applies to every service in the contract, instead of being calculated each morning at the day's tariff; for whoever pays, it is a fixed cost per service, predictable for the year's budget. The calendar replaces individual bookings: the pattern is set — Monday to Friday at quarter to six, Tuesdays at ten — and the exceptions are marked, which are what really take work in a repeating service. And the people: a recurring service has one or more regular drivers who know the route, the exact pickup point, the passengers and their needs, which in a school or a clinic is no small detail.
The contract also says what happens with changes: with what notice a day can be cancelled at no cost, how an extra service is added, what happens if the passenger does not show, and how the price is reviewed if the trip changes or a year goes by. On this platform the recurring service is managed from the business account: the customer marks on the calendar the days they do not need it and that is what is invoiced, the price per service is the agreed one and the monthly invoice carries the day-by-day breakdown.
How is staff transport for shifts organised?
Companies with shifts on industrial estates and logistics parks have a problem public transport does not solve: the shift starts at six in the morning or ends at two at night, and at those hours there is no bus from the villages where the workforce lives. The recurring service is designed as a route with several pickups in a fixed order and a committed arrival time, with the vehicle that matches the headcount — a saloon, a seven-seat people carrier, a nine-seat van —, and it repeats every working day with the same driver.
There is a legal limit worth knowing: a chauffeured hire vehicle or a taxi carries up to nine people including the driver; beyond that, the transport is discretionary coach service and requires another authorisation and another kind of company. For large workforces the solution is usually several vehicles on different routes, or combining a coach for the bulk with cars for the shifts and villages the coach does not cover. This platform's industrial-estate transfers page explains how it is quoted; the guides of the provinces with industrial estates tell the specific story of each area.
What does the law require to carry minors?
When a school, a camp or a club contracts transfers of pupils without their parents, there are rules that are not optional. Minors under one hundred and thirty-five centimetres tall must travel with a child restraint suited to their height and weight, in taxis and VTCs too, save the very specific exceptions the General Traffic Regulation sets for taxis in urban areas; the transport company must have the seats and the contract must say who provides them. Guardians must authorise the transfer in writing, and the centre must have identified the drivers who will deal with the minors.
Since the legal protection of minors act and the comprehensive child protection act, anyone working in regular contact with minors must prove they have no record of sexual offences with the certificate from the Central Register of Sexual Offenders, and schools require that certificate from the drivers of the services they contract. Depending on the children's age and number, the centre also decides whether an escort from the centre travels, as happens in regular school bus transport, even though the school-bus rule does not apply literally to a nine-seat car. All of that goes into the recurring service contract, and a serious transport company raises it before being asked.
What is a non-medical patient transfer and what is it not?
A transfer to dialysis, rehabilitation, chemotherapy or a regular appointment is, under transport law, passenger transport like any other: a car with a driver that takes a person who can travel seated in an ordinary vehicle, and brings them back. It is not medical transport: no stretcher, no medical staff, no equipment, and it is not subject to the road medical transport rules that govern ambulances and their crews. Nor is it prescribed by a doctor or paid by the public health system, except under whatever assistance programmes each region has; it is contracted and paid for by the patient, their family, a private clinic, an insurer or a care home.
What does set a well-run recurring patient service apart are the details: punctuality for treatments with a fixed time, a return with a margin because sessions run long, the same driver who knows the hospital entrance and the person's condition, an accessible vehicle when needed, and the monthly invoice in the name of whoever pays, be it the family or the clinic. This platform's clinics and hospitals page explains how it is contracted; the underlying rule is the same across the country.
How is it contracted and what should the contract say?
It starts from a quote with the exact trip, the stops, the timetable, the vehicle, the number of services a month and the terms for changes, and a price per service is agreed. The contract should say who pays, who is invoiced and how — a monthly itemised invoice is usual —, with what notice a day is cancelled, what happens with public holidays and holidays, how the price is reviewed, what insurance covers the passengers (the compulsory passenger insurance and the vehicle's liability cover) and, if minors or people with support travel, the conditions in the previous section.
And it should say one more thing: who the contact is for day-to-day changes, because a recurring service lives on small adjustments — one person not coming today, half an hour earlier tomorrow — and the person handling them at the transport company must be reachable. On this platform that is done from the business account panel, with the calendar and notifications; the fixed service page details the options and the business page, how to open the account.
Frequently asked questions
What is a fixed or recurring service?
The same transfer repeated on a calendar, contracted once with an agreed price per service, regular drivers, days marked as not needed and a monthly itemised invoice.
How many people fit in a transfer with a driver?
Up to nine including the driver in a VTC or a taxi; beyond that it is discretionary coach transport, with another authorisation. For large workforces, several vehicles or a coach plus cars are combined.
Can children travel without their parents on a transfer contracted by the school?
Yes, with written authorisation from guardians, restraints suited to their height, drivers with a clean sexual offences certificate and, if the centre decides, an escort. All of it must be in the contract.
Is a transfer to dialysis or rehabilitation medical transport?
No. It is a car with a driver for a person who can travel seated, with no stretcher or medical staff; it is not prescribed by a doctor or paid by the health system except under specific regional programmes.
How are the days the service is not needed marked?
On the business account calendar: the customer marks the days they do not need it with the notice the contract states, and the monthly invoice only carries the services performed.
Sources
- Real Decreto 1428/2003, Reglamento General de Circulación, artículo 117: sistemas de retención infantil (consulted on 27 October 2026)
- Ley Orgánica 8/2021, de protección integral a la infancia y la adolescencia frente a la violencia, y Ley Orgánica 1/1996, artículo 13.5: certificado negativo del Registro Central de Delincuentes Sexuales (consulted on 27 October 2026)
- Ley 16/1987, de Ordenación de los Transportes Terrestres: transporte discrecional de viajeros y arrendamiento con conductor (hasta nueve plazas) (consulted on 27 October 2026)
- Real Decreto 836/2012, características técnicas, equipamiento sanitario y dotación de personal de los vehículos de transporte sanitario por carretera (consulted on 27 October 2026)
How we write, where the figures come from and how we correct an error: editorial policy.
This piece describes the general framework in Spain; the terms of each recurring service (price per service, cancellation notice, waiting) are those of the contract and those published by the platform, and requirements for minors are set by each centre under current rules. It is not legal advice.