Government Considers Revising French Language Test for Taxi and Ride-Hailing Drivers

The government wants to question the representatives of taxis, VTCs and moto-taxis on the need to maintain the French test in the exam developed with the Chamber of Trades and Crafts, reports BFMTV. Drivers undergo five tests: regulations, management, road safety, French and English.

The only problem: the French test. "Do you consider the French test to be essential (...)?" is written in the questionnaire. Better yet, Bercy asks professional bodies if language proficiency is not attested by understanding the questions in the other tests, as well as by the practical test.

Already last August, Yves Weisselberger, the boss of SnapCar, also president of the French Federation of Passenger Transport on Reservation (FFTPR), was looking into the issue. He had stated that the difficulty of the exam is the cause of a shortage of 5,000 to 10,000 drivers.

Speaking on the subject, Uber, which is not part of the FFTPR, thinks that the exam introduced by the Grandguillaume law is, nothing more or less, a "serious barrier". The company recalls that the pass rate was only 35% in 2018. Based on this finding, Uber would like driving schools to now organize the exam, instead of the Chamber of Trades and Crafts.