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How to establish a Car Rental Company?
Car Rental Companies are licensed and controlled by the Ministry of Tourism.
Those interested must submit an Application with the required supporting documents in order to receive a Certification of Meeting the Legal Requirements.
See below for requirements, supporting documents and procedure according to the sector where you want to operate, i.e. Car Rental without Driver, Car Rental with Driver, Light Truck Rental.
MINIMUM NUMBER OF CARS
For Car Rental Companies without Driver, one single car of any capacity is enough.
But if you are interested in setting up a Rental Company with Driver, at least one car of EURO-5 category or later is required.
CAR AGE
For Car Rental Companies without Driver, cars can be up to 12 years old.
For Car Rental Companies without Driver, cars can be up to 7 years old or up to 9 years old for open-type cars.
NEW OR USED
Cars can be new or used, provided that they comply with the abovementioned age restrictions.
HEADQUARTERS-OFFICE
There is no limit to the minimum area of the space to be used as office.
Also, co-location with any other company is allowed.
PARKING
For fleets of more than 10 cars, a parking area is required for half the fleet, equal to 6 sq m per car.
This area is not required to be close to the Company’s headquarters. It can be anywhere in the region or on the island where you operate.
To obtain the Certification of Meeting the Legal Requirements, you shall file an application with the GNTO Service of your region, accompanied by the following documents:
Start of Business Certificate or Corporate Statute (depending on the legal form of the Company)
Photocopies of car registrations
Photocopies of registration certificates
Photocopy of Lease Contract or Property Title or Concession Agreement for the company headquarters’ premises
Photocopy of Lease Contract or Property Title or Concession Agreement for the parking area, if required
€ 300 Administrative Fee voucher + stamp duty, issued electronically at code 5714
Criminal Record Extract and No-Bankruptcy Certificate (to be administratively recovered with GNTO’s care)
Pursuant to Law 4093/2012, Car Rental Services WITH Driver may be provided by already operating Rental Companies WITHOUT Driver.
Therefore, if you are interested in such services, you shall follow the procedure for obtaining the Certification of Meeting the Legal Requirements for Car Rental Companies WITHOUT Driver, and then notify the GNTO that you will also offer car rentals WITH Driver.
Documentation required:
Application
Photocopies of car registrations
Photocopies of registration certificates
€ 100 Administrative Fee voucher + stamp duty
One single car of EURO-5 category or later and up to 7 years of age (or 9 years, if open-type) is enough
Car Rental Companies WITHOUT Driver may also rent private-use trucks of gross weight up to 3.5 tons. The procedure provided for Car Rental Companies WITHOUT Driver is followed and then private-use trucks are included in the fleet.
Age limits are the same as for passenger cars, i.e. 12 years.
Upon submission of the Application and all required supporting documents, the GNTO checks whether the legal requirements for company operation are met and within 15 days:
(a) if it finds that they are not met, rejects your Application and inform you in writing of the reasons for that decision; or
(b) if the requirements are met, issues the relevant Certification.
Practically, this means that if within 15 days you are not notified in writing that your Application is rejected, you have to recover the relevant Certification from the GNTO and you can start operating.
The establishment of branches in the cities of interest is required.
Submitting an application to the regional GNTO Service accompanied by the relevant supporting documents is also required here for the premises to house by the Company, for parking (if required), as well as the issuance of a € 300 Administrative Fee voucher + stamp duty
