Letter from the TMV to the Minister of Transport: The "Small Professional Knowledge" - A Bureaucratic Phantom

A low-threshold testing procedure designed to prepare drivers for their basic knowledge of legal regulations, safety, and customer communication. According to the Taxi and Rental Car Association (TMV), little remains of this. The test has not been introduced to date. The concept has also not been implemented, and communication on the topic has practically come to a standstill. What was once intended as quality assurance has now, in the association's view, become a symbol of bungled implementation policy.

An open letter from the TMV now brings the frustration to a head. The recipient is the new Federal Minister of Transport, Patrick Schnieder. The criticism is clear, the tone unusually direct. It concerns a topic that, according to the TMV, many taxi operators have long since resolved themselves in everyday life: The "taxi driver test."

Four Years of "Holding Pattern"

Instead of a nationwide standard qualification, many companies have taken it upon themselves to train their drivers—whether through taxi centers in the cities or experienced entrepreneurs in rural areas. The idea of being confronted with a new, costly test after years of self-initiative, which doesn't even consider important aspects like customer orientation, seems not only out of touch but also disrespectful from the perspective of the association.

“Impractical, bureaucratic, outdated,” says the letter from the CEO of the TMV, Patrick Meinhardt. The taxi association criticizes not only the procedure itself but especially the way it is supposed to be implemented: without feedback, without transparency—and without regard to the reality in the businesses.

A System in Idle

In fact, the TMV raises the question of what function the "Basic Expertise" can still serve today. The goal – a minimum level of knowledge in terms of passenger safety – is fundamentally undisputed. However, if this goal has not even been partially transferred to a functioning testing structure in four years, the instrument loses its legitimacy.

In this context, the original idea of a digital exam was discarded for data protection reasons. An argument that, according to Patrick Meinhardt, many in the industry do not understand – they are too reminiscent of COVID-related digital examinations at universities and government agencies that have indeed successfully implemented such solutions.