Thailand’s Ministry of Transport will intensify enforcement of ride-hailing regulations starting October 1, targeting eight platforms including Grab, Bolt, and LINE MAN. Authorities will verify driver licenses and vehicle registrations, introducing an “app report card” system to track compliance violations. Licence applications have already risen significantly since platforms agreed to cooperate in June.
The policy shifts greater responsibility onto platforms to ensure regulatory compliance, with violations carrying fines or imprisonment. While the changes aim to improve safety and formalize the sector, they may increase costs for drivers and platforms, potentially raising fares or prompting some drivers to leave. The government faces a balancing act between passenger protection and maintaining affordable, accessible transport.
Thailand will step up enforcement of regulations governing app-based ride-hailing services from October 1, in a move that will affect drivers, vehicles and digital platforms.
The Ministry of Transport announced the tougher enforcement after a meeting chaired by Deputy Transport Minister Siripong Angkasakulkiat. Authorities are seeking to raise safety standards and ensure that services comply with the legal requirements governing public transport
The campaign covers eight platforms: Grab, Bolt, inDrive, TADA, MAXIM, LINE MAN, Lalamove and FINGOGO. The Department of Land Transport will monitor whether drivers hold the required licences and whether vehicles are properly registered.
Authorities will also introduce an “app report card” system to assess platform compliance. The mechanism will record violations involving the assignment of trips to drivers without public-service licences or to vehicles that have not completed the registration process.
The government said the period before enforcement begins gave drivers and companies time to regularise their operations. Since the platforms announced their cooperation in June, applications for licences for public car and motorcycle drivers have increased.
Monthly applications for public car-driver licences rose from an average of 2,915 to 8,839. For public motorcycle-driver licences, the average increased from 2,271 to 9,383.
Greater responsibility for platforms
The new policy will also place greater responsibility on technology companies. Platforms will not merely connect passengers and drivers; they will also have to verify that the services offered through their applications comply with national regulations.
Violations could result in fines, imprisonment or both, depending on the nature of the offence. Enforcement will focus particularly on drivers operating without the required licences and vehicles working outside the registration system.
The changes could improve passenger safety and reduce competition from informal operators. They may also make it easier to identify drivers in cases involving accidents, fraud or complaints.
However, formalisation comes at a cost. Drivers may face additional expenses for licences, inspections, insurance and vehicle registration. Platforms, meanwhile, will need to invest in stricter verification and monitoring systems.
Some of these costs could eventually be passed on to passengers through higher fares. There is also a risk that some drivers will leave the platforms if they believe the new requirements reduce their earnings too sharply.
The government is trying to balance two objectives that do not always move in the same direction: protecting users and keeping transport affordable. Thailand needs to regulate a sector that has expanded rapidly, but it cannot ignore that millions of people rely on these applications for mobility and income.
From October 1, the app-based transport market will enter a more tightly regulated phase. The real test will not be how many fines are issued, but whether the new rules create a safer system without making digital transport less available or less affordable.
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