Street taxi duty sheet in Flanders: what must your app record?

A driver starts their app, accepts trips, transports customers and then ends the day. On the surface, nothing complicated.

But behind every working day, the software used by the driver must build a precise document: the duty sheet, called dienststaat in Dutch.

People often talk about a “route sheet”, but it is not simply a list of completed trips. This sheet must make it possible to reconstruct the driver’s entire day:

• who was driving;
• with which vehicle;
• at what time the duty started;
• where the vehicle was;
• how many trips were completed;
• which distances were covered;
• which prices were charged;
• when the duty ended.

For a street taxi using an application rather than a taximeter, certain GPS data are also mandatory.

What is the duty sheet for?

The duty sheet provides a complete view of the duty performed by a driver with a given vehicle. It therefore does not only cover the moments when a customer is in the car.

It covers the entire period between:

1. the driver starting the duty;
2. the effective end of that duty.

During that period, the software must record information about the driver, the vehicle, breaks, trips, kilometres and prices. The equipment used must also make it possible to present that data in a readable and understandable form.

Who must open the duty sheet?

The duty sheet is linked to a specific duty. In practice, the driver must therefore start their duty in the app before beginning their activity.

At that moment, the software must know:

• which driver is logged in;
• for which operator they work;
• which vehicle they are using;
• at what time their duty starts;
• what the vehicle mileage is;
• where the vehicle is.

The driver should not be able to start the day with an incorrect profile, the wrong vehicle or another operator’s details.

What information must be recorded at the start of the duty?

When a driver starts their day, the duty sheet must contain:

• the name or trading name of the operator;
• their address;
• their email address;
• their phone number;
• the date;
• the vehicle identification;
• the number plate;
• the driver’s first and last name;
• the start time of the duty;
• the vehicle mileage at the start of the duty.

For a street taxi using an application or equipment other than a taximeter, the vehicle location at the start of the duty must also be recorded.

Example

A driver starts the day at 7:30 with a vehicle showing 84,520 kilometres. The app must then record at least: the driver, the vehicle, the date, 7:30 as the start time, 84,520 kilometres as the starting mileage, and the vehicle location at the moment of start.

The location should not depend on an address typed in manually several hours later. It must correspond to where the vehicle actually was at the start of the duty.

What must the app record during the day?

The duty sheet continues to evolve throughout the duty. It must in particular include:

• the times of breaks actually taken;
• the number of trips completed since the start of the duty;
• the final price of each trip;
• the number of pick-ups;
• the total distance covered;
• the distance covered with a passenger on board.

For a vehicle operating with an application rather than a taximeter, the software must also record:

• the vehicle location at the start of each trip;
• the vehicle location at the end of each trip.

In other words, a simple list with the customer’s name, the time and the price is not enough. The system must also be able to determine the kilometres covered and the start and end locations of each trip.

What is the difference between total distance and distance with a passenger?

Total distance covered

This covers all kilometres during the duty: travel before the first trip, kilometres to reach a customer, kilometres with the customer, travel between two trips, return after the last trip.

Distance covered with a passenger

This is the distance during trips, between pick-up and drop-off of the passenger. This distinction separates kilometres linked to transporting a customer from empty kilometres. The duty sheet must contain both.

Must breaks be recorded?

Yes. The duty sheet must include the times of breaks actually taken. The app should allow the driver to clearly signal the start of a break and the resumption of the duty.

A driver who stays logged in all day without declaring breaks risks producing a sheet that does not correctly represent their real activity. The “break” button is part of building the duty sheet — it is not merely a comfort feature.

What must the sheet contain at the end of the duty?

When the driver ends their day, the app must close the duty sheet. It must then include:

• the date and time of the effective end of the duty;
• the total number of trips;
• the agreed price and the final price of each trip;
• the number of pick-ups;
• the total distance covered;
• the distance covered with passengers;
• the start and end locations of each trip when software is used instead of a taximeter.

Simply closing the app or turning off the phone does not necessarily mean the duty has been correctly closed. The driver must use the intended function to end their day.

Must the driver enter all information manually?

The regulation requires the result: data must be recorded, retained and consultable in a secure way. It does not require the driver to write every piece of information by hand.

A well-designed app can automatically record the date, times, logged-in driver, vehicle, GPS, kilometres, number of trips, prices and totals. The driver should mainly perform the actions the software cannot guess: choose the correct vehicle, enter the initial mileage if needed, start the duty, declare breaks, start and end each trip, close the duty.

The goal is not to fill in an administrative document after every day. The goal is for the sheet to build itself automatically from real activity.

Can you simply create a PDF at the end of the month?

A PDF can be useful to consult, download or archive a duty sheet. But the regulation does not only require producing a neat document after the events.

The data must be:

• recorded securely;
• retained;
• consultable;
• linked to the duty actually performed;
• identical to the original data;
• protected against untraceable modifications.

The integrity, immutability, origin and non-contestable nature of the data must be guaranteed through a reliable audit trail between the transport ticket and the duty performed.

In practice, a PDF reconstructed manually several weeks later is not enough on its own. The PDF must be the representation of data recorded by the system, not a document freely recreated afterwards.

Must the driver be able to consult their duty sheet?

Yes. The driver must be able to generate a copy of their duty sheet for themselves. The equipment in the vehicle must also make it possible to present the data in a readable, understandable form identical to the original data.

That can take the form of a screen in the app, a digital document or a PDF, provided the information can be presented correctly. A driver should not depend solely on the administrative manager to consult their own duty sheet.

What happens during an inspection?

When a competent officer requests the data, the driver must be able to present the secured information from the duty sheet and the transport tickets. The fact that data are stored online, in Belgium or abroad, does not remove that obligation.

Concretely, the driver must be able to open their app and retrieve at least their current duty, vehicle details, trips already completed, kilometres, prices and the start and end locations of trips.

Saying that “all the information is at the office” or that “only the boss can open the documents” can be a problem if the driver cannot present them during the inspection.

How long must the data be retained?

The operator and any intermediary must retain the secured data from the duty sheet and transport tickets for seven years. They must also be able to present them at the request of the competent officers.

The operator must check that their software does not automatically delete old sheets after a few months. Changing software should also not cause still-mandatory data to disappear.

Before terminating a contract with a provider, plan a full export of duty sheets and transport tickets, retention of the original data, and a method to retrieve them in case of a later inspection.

Does Chiron replace the duty sheet?

No. These are two distinct obligations.

Chiron is the central database to which the operator must transmit trip information (departure and arrival messages). The duty sheet gathers the information for the full duty: start of day, breaks, trips, kilometres, prices and end of duty.

A compliant app must handle both aspects. The fact that a trip was correctly transmitted to Chiron does not automatically mean the duty sheet is complete.

A different sheet for each driver or for each vehicle?

The duty sheet concerns the duty of a driver with a given vehicle. If two drivers use the same vehicle one after the other, each must have their own duty.

Example

Driver A uses the vehicle from 6:00 to 14:00. Driver B takes over the same vehicle from 14:00 to 22:00. You must not produce a single sheet from 6:00 to 22:00 in the company’s name. You must distinguish driver A’s duty from driver B’s, with their own hours, breaks, trips, distances and prices.

The easiest mistakes to avoid

• Starting to drive without starting the duty — the first trips and kilometres risk not being attached to the correct sheet.
• Selecting the wrong vehicle — data will be attributed to a plate that did not actually perform the trips.
• Using another driver’s account — the sheet will show a different person from the one who was driving.
• Forgetting to start or end a trip — incomplete locations, times, kilometres or prices.
• Never declaring breaks — the sheet does not reflect the real organisation of the duty.
• Closing the app without closing the day — open duty with an incorrect or missing end time.
• Changing data without leaving a trail — any correction must be traceable.

The operator’s daily check

The operator should not wait until month-end to discover errors. A simple check can be organised every day or every week:

• have all drivers started and ended their duty?
• are the selected vehicles correct?
• is the starting mileage present?
• does each trip have a start and an end?
• are locations available?
• are distances consistent?
• are final prices recorded?
• are breaks declared?
• have the data been transmitted to Chiron?
• can the sheets be opened and downloaded?

What an operator should remember

For a street taxi using an application, the duty sheet is not limited to a list of invoices or trips. It must follow the driver’s entire day.

The app must be able to record the start of the duty, the driver, the vehicle, starting mileage, start location, breaks, each trip, pick-up and drop-off locations, distances, prices and the end of the duty.

The driver must be able to consult and present this information. The operator must ensure it is correctly retained for seven years.

A good digital solution must therefore not only dispatch trips. It must also automatically build a complete, reliable and consultable duty sheet. See the Documents hub and TaxiGer for the licence file.

FAQ

Official sources

• Flemish Government Decree of 9 June 2023 — duty sheet, transport ticket, retention
• Vlaanderen.be — Chiron trip database
• Vlaanderen.be — Licence application (duty sheet and transport ticket templates)