The Victorian Government has introduced reforms to improve safety, transparency and accountability across the commercial passenger vehicle industry.

These reforms are designed to strengthen the rules that support safe taxi and rideshare services, while recognising the many drivers, vehicle owners and Booking Service Providers who do the right thing every day.

Latest update: Final reforms commence 1 August

The final stage of the Victorian Government’s commercial passenger vehicle reforms will commence on 1 August 2026, introducing expanded notifiable incident reporting and new service refusal rule for unbooked services.

What’s in the reform package?

The reform package covers several areas including changes to incident reporting, public register information, driver and Booking Service Provider affiliation, camera requirements, wheelchair accessible vehicle training, fare compliance and QR codes in CPVs.

Expanded Notifiable Incident reporting

Booking Service Providers and drivers will need to report a wider range of incidents to ST Vic.

This will help ST Vic better understand and respond to safety concerns across the CPV industry.

Notifiable incident reporting requirements include actual or alleged incidents or complaints.

From 1 August 2026, more types of incidents must be reported to ST Vic.

For any CPV service, the following must be reported:

  • Charging a card or electronic payment surcharge above the permitted amount
  • Refusing an assistance animal
  • a complaint is made to a Booking Service Provider or police officer alleging sexual assault, sexual harassment, indecent exposure, assault, physical threats or other intimidation.

For unbooked services, including rank-and-hail services, the following must also be reported:

Enforcement actions on the Public Register

From 1 July 2026, ST Vic will publish details of formal disciplinary actions on the CPV Public Register.

This includes the driver’s name, the outcome of the action and a short description of what happened. Only disciplinary action taken from 1 July 2026 will be included, and only after appeal timeframes have passed. Warnings and education actions will not be published.

Drivers and vehicle owners do not need to do anything for this change.

"Two-strikes" rule

From July 1 2026, the “two-strikes and you’re out” rule came into effect. This means drivers may lose their accreditation if they are found guilty of two or more of these offences within 10 years.

This rule applies to repeat offending involving:

  • charging or asking for more than the permitted fare for an unbooked service
  • charging an excessive non-cash payment surcharge
  • not using the fare calculation device when required
  • not stopping the fare calculation device at the end of the trip
  • not providing a receipt when requested
  • refusing to carry an assistance animal

From 1 August 2026, refusing to provide an unbooked CPV service without a valid exception will be added to this list.

This reform targets serious and repeated misconduct, not one-off mistakes.

Service refusal rule

From 1 August 2026, as part of the ‘two-strikes rule’ a new service refusal rule will apply to unbooked CPV services, including rank-and-hail services.

A driver who is available to provide an unbooked CPV service must not refuse to provide that service to a passenger unless a valid exception applies.

Exceptions may apply where:

  • the passenger, or someone with them, is abusive, aggressive or violent
  • the driver reasonably believes the passenger, or someone with them, poses a safety risk
  • the number of passengers is more than the number of available seatbelts
  • the passenger, or someone with them, is drinking alcohol or smoking and refuses to stop when asked
  • the passenger, or something they are carrying, is likely to soil the vehicle
  • the driver reasonably believes the passenger will not pay the fare
  • a valid destination sign is displayed and the passenger’s requested trip is outside the area covered by that sign.

If a driver is found to have refused service unlawfully, the maximum penalty is 10 penalty units.

These changes are designed to reduce unfair service refusals, including refusals of short trips.

Assistance animal refusals are also being addressed through related reform changes, including the expansion of the two-strikes framework (above).

Strengthened WAV driver training

Training requirements for drivers of wheelchair accessible vehicles are being strengthened to support safer and more accessible services for passengers with disability.

ST Vic will provide more information to industry before any new training requirements commence later in 2026.

Changes to video and audio standards

Updated camera and audio requirements came into effect on 1 July 2026.

Unbooked vehicles: changed video and audio standards

The following changes now apply for unbooked vehicles:

  • Audio recording: Unbooked CPVs must have audio recording capability.
  • Footage retention: Camera recordings must be retained for 14 days, increased from 72 hours.
  • Image quality: Cameras must record video at a minimum resolution of 480 TVL.
  • Access to recordings: BSPs may access recordings for prescribed purposes, subject to data management and privacy requirements.

These changes are captured in the Minimum Standards which came into effect from 1 July 2026.

To support industry during this transition, Safe Transport Victoria will adopt an educative compliance approach for an initial grace period. During this time, our focus will be on helping industry understand the new minimum standards and how to comply with them. Visit the camera and audio standards webpage for guidance and supporting resources.

Booked vehicles: changed audio standards

From 1 July 2026, audio recording devices may operate in booked CPVs. These devices are optional.

Guidance on implementation

To support compliance, visit the camera and audio standards webpage for the industry implementation guide, technical requirements, approved security camera systems and other resources to help you understand and implement the new minimum standards.

Please note: dashcams are not approved security cameras and must not be used as approved CPV security cameras.

We recognise that implementing camera and audio changes will take time. To support industry during this transition, Safe Transport Victoria will adopt an educative compliance approach for an initial grace period. During this time, our focus will be on helping industry understand and implement the new minimum standards.

BSP and driver affiliation details

For drivers:

From 1 July 2026, drivers must provide information about the Booking Service Provider or providers they are affiliated with.

Drivers can update their affiliation details through the ST Vic User Portal. Drivers should complete this by 1 September 2026.

If drivers are affiliated with more than one BSP, they should include each provider.

Drivers must provide or confirm their BSP affiliation details when they apply for accreditation, renew their accreditation, or within five business days if their circumstances change.

Keeping affiliation information current is a condition of driver accreditation. Failure to maintain accurate details may be considered as part of future compliance or disciplinary action.

For Booking Service Providers:

BSPs must provide information about affiliated drivers.

BSPs that already report trip data to ST Vic will be able to provide required information through their usual reporting arrangements, and must now include data on unbooked trips.

BSPs that do not currently report trip data to ST Vic will receive separate information about what they need to provide, how to provide it and when it is due. This is a condition of registration. These direct emails from ST Vic will be sent in July 2026.

Correct signage rules

From July 1 2026, drivers must not display signage for a BSP unless they are associated with that BSP. Drivers may display more than one sign as long as they are registered and active with that BSP.

If a driver is caught with misleading signage, they can be charged up to 5 penalty units.

Mandatory QR codes

From 1 March 2026, QR codes are mandatory in commercial passenger vehicles.

The QR code allows passengers to quickly report unsafe or unfair behaviour directly to ST Vic.

QR codes are a simple, visible tool that:

  • help passengers report issues more easily
  • reinforce the professionalism of drivers and BSPs doing the right thing
  • provide consistent statewide reporting pathways

Find out more, including how to get your QR code here.

Obligations of BSPs

From 1 July 2026, BSPs must make a reasonable effort to communicate the laws and regulations around QR codes to their drivers and ensure drivers are meeting those regulations.

This could include, but is not limited to, actions such as the following:

  • providing information on QR codes to drivers verbally or through newsletters, email or apps.
  • conducting random spot checks of drivers and vehicles to ensure that QR codes are displayed
  • actively following up directly with drivers if any complaints are received about not displaying QR codes

Failure to comply could result in an infringement of 5 penalty units.

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