Who May Legally Drive You in Greece

Two regulated categories, and they are not interchangeable. A taxi holds a public-use licence and may be hailed. A chauffeur-driven private car — ΕΙΧ with driver — works under a rental contract agreed in advance, may never charge a fare, and may not pick anybody up in the street. The company behind it notifies its activity to the Regional Tourism Service, its cars must meet emissions and age limits, and its drivers must have held a licence for years rather than months. The black car waiting at arrivals is legal because of paperwork done before you landed.

In short

A taxi is a public-use vehicle that may be hailed. A chauffeur-driven private car works only on a rental contract agreed in advance.
A chauffeur-driven car may never charge a fare. It is paid under the contract, and charging by the ride is what makes it an illegal taxi.
The operating company notifies its activity to the Regional Tourism Service; the notification runs for 5 years and is decided in 15 days, after which silence permits the activity.
Vehicles must meet EURO 5 or V standards or newer and are retired 10 years after first registration, or 12 years for convertibles.
A company running more than 10 cars must hold parking for at least half its fleet, at 6 square metres a vehicle.
Minimum contract durations are set by ministerial decision and differ between the mainland and the islands, where a shorter minimum applies through the season.

Two categories, not one

Greece licenses two ways of being driven by somebody else, and they are governed separately.

The taxi is a public-use vehicle. It may wait on a rank, be hailed in the street, and charge a metered fare. Its driver holds a special driving licence for the category.

The chauffeur-driven private car — in Greek, ΕΙΧ with driver — is a private vehicle let with a driver under a rental contract agreed before the journey. It may not be hailed, it may not wait for passers-by, and it may not charge a fare.

That last point is the whole distinction, and it is enforced rather than assumed. What is being paid for is a contract for the vehicle and the driver over a period; a payment by the ride would make the car a taxi operating without a taxi licence.

What the company must hold

The activity is a notified one. The operator files a notification of activity with the Regional Tourism Service, with supporting documents, and the notification runs for 5 years.

Two features of the procedure are worth knowing because they explain how the market behaves. It is decided within 15 days, and if the service does not respond in that time the activity is permitted — silence is consent. And the operator must be clear of an irrevocable conviction for a felony or for theft, embezzlement or fraud, and must not be bankrupt.

There is a fleet condition too. A company operating more than 10 vehicles must own or lease parking for at least half of them, at 6 square metres a vehicle. It is an unglamorous rule, and it is one of the few objective tests of whether a transfer company is a company or a telephone number.

What the car must be

Two conditions do most of the work.

Emissions. Vehicles must meet EURO 5 or V standards, or newer.

Age. A vehicle leaves service 10 years after its first registration — 12 years for a convertible. Each vehicle carries a classification certificate and its registration document, and both can be asked for.

The age limit is the reason the fleets look the way they do at Athens arrivals, and it is a genuine consumer protection: the 14-year-old saloon with 400,000 kilometres on it is not eligible for this work.

The booking has to exist first

Because the arrangement is a contract rather than a fare, it has to be agreed before the journey begins, and the terms of that agreement are set by ministerial decision.

The decisions distinguish island Greece, excluding Crete and Evia, from the mainland, Crete and Evia. On the islands a substantially shorter minimum contract applies through the season, from the start of April to the end of October, with a longer minimum outside it; the mainland has its own decision. Both require the booking to be made in advance and recorded in the digital registry before the service starts, and the vehicle may not be re-let to somebody else until the contracted period has run, even if the first client releases it early.

The terms move — the current island decision was published in the Government Gazette in May 2026 — so the question to ask is what applies on your dates, not what applied last summer.

The driver

Beyond the company and the car, the person driving has their own conditions: a category B licence held for at least 24 months before employment, a clean criminal record certificate and a medical certificate, all held on file by the company and producible on inspection.

None of this speaks to whether the driver is any good, which is a separate question and the one that actually decides the day. Licensing sets a floor. Experience of the road between Kalamata and the Mani, or of getting a party to a quay before a boat leaves, is not on any certificate.

What to ask before a transfer

Which category is this — a taxi or a chauffeur-driven car? They are priced and regulated differently, and a company that is vague about the answer is telling you something.
Whether the booking is registered, and for what period.
Whether the same vehicle and driver stay with you, or whether the company subcontracts to whoever is free.
What happens when a flight is late. With a contract for a period, a delayed arrival is a real question and it should be answered before the day.
Who is driving on the island, if the itinerary crosses to one. A mainland company frequently subcontracts there, and the subcontractor is the one who actually meets you.

The same discipline applies to the person who shows you the site rather than drives you to it: see licensed guides in Greece.