A bill entitled "Law amending the Professional Driver's License Law of 2011" is estimated to solve the problem with the shortage of bus drivers in Cyprus. This is because it abolishes a provision of the existing legislation according to which in order to legally drive a bus in Cyprus, one must present a clean criminal record, which covers the last three months of his stay in the Republic of Cyprus.
It is noted that citing the lack of bus drivers, the company that operates the "Pame Express" routes from the GSP stadium to the center of Nicosia and vice versa had announced the termination of the service on March 23 of this year. Later, and at the urging of the Ministry of Transport, the decision was not implemented, but the routes had been thinned out, causing inconvenience to bus users.
The existing legislation created obstacles to the employment of drivers from EU member states, even if they submitted a clean criminal record certificate from their countries of origin. Specifically, the existing legislation states that "in the event that a person applying for a category "L" license is a citizen of another member state, the Department may accept for the purposes of certifying that the applicant has not been deprived of the ability to hold a license, certificate or other corresponding document of a clean criminal record issued by the competent Authority of the member state of citizenship of the applicant, provided that three (3) months have not elapsed from the date of issuance of the document in question".
As a result, any bus driver from an EU member state who wished to work in Cyprus was forced to stay for a period of about three months on the island, in order to secure (here) a clean record to submit for approval.
However, as "F" is informed, at least one company brought drivers from an EU member state to Cyprus and paid them until the stipulated period of time elapsed, in order to secure a clean criminal record from the authorities of the Republic of Cyprus so that they could be employed.
The promoted bill has already been put to consultation and will then be forwarded to the Parliament for approval.
In the preamble to the text of the consultation, reference is made to the reduced number of drivers and the ineffective efforts to find interested parties, as well as to the need to staff companies transporting passengers and goods with professional drivers, while the reference to the issue of public safety is not omitted.
The promoted bill amends a relevant article of the existing legislation by adding the following reservation: "... in the event that a person applying for a category "L" and "F" licence is a citizen of another Member State or has his/her habitual residence in another Member State, the Department (Road Transport) may accept for the purpose of confirming that the applicant has not been deprived of the ability to hold a licence, certificate or other corresponding document of a clean criminal record issued by the competent Authority of the Member State of nationality of the applicant or of the Member State holding the habitual residence, provided that three months have not elapsed since the date of issue of the document in question'.
In other words, a professional driver from an EU member state secures a clean criminal record certificate in his country today, will be able to submit it in Cyprus and be considered valid, for the purposes of his employment (as a bus driver) provided that three months will not pass from the date of issue.
Especially with regard to the "Pame Express" service, which was one of the main factors that accelerated the examination of measures to deal with the shortage of bus drivers, as it has been submitted before the Parliament, it serves around 500-600 people daily. Last year, about 100,000 movements were recorded.
One of the issues that worries bus companies is the age of drivers, which currently starts at 21 and ends at 70. Some believe that it could be extended beyond the seventieth year.
As for drivers from Greece, who can get along better (compared to drivers from other countries), it seems that some tried but eventually repatriated despite the fact that the earnings in Cyprus are better. The main reason why they decided to leave Cyprus was the cost of living and in particular the rents which neutralized their extra earnings.
