The Slovenian Ministry of Infrastructure has unveiled amendments to the road transport act, which are expected to create legal conditions for the arrival of California-based online transportation network company Uber, the ministry said on February 1. 

Internal debates about Uber have been ongoing for more than a year in Slovenia. The Slovenian government has been in favour of allowing Uber to enter the market, and said back in September 2016 that Uber services effectively complement the public transport system and reduce the need for private car ownership, which is crucial for the development of future green and smart cities.

However, legislative changes were needed for the ride-sharing service to operate in the country, and have now been put forward by the infrastructure ministry. 

To welcome providers such as Uber which use online platforms to connect drivers with potential passengers, a new category of passenger transport will be introduced: rental of vehicle with driver. The category would fall between the existing taxi services and rental services for larger groups of passengers.

The ministry acknowledged the new services would be competition for existing taxi services, which is why the taxi segment will be deregulated at the same time. Meanwhile, national taxi licences would no longer be required and regulation would be completely transferred to local communities: national law would define only basic rules.

To ease the process, a transition period is proposed allowing taxi drivers to use existing rules for another five years.