The Pickup Permit: Renewing It Costs More Than Issuing It

Two more permits on the General Traffic Department’s page concern people who work with their own vehicle: the pickup permit and the public bus permit. The first has a single line of conditions; the second has a narrower door.

The pickup: one condition and no more

The conditions on the site run to a single line: the owner of the pickup must be the applicant’s residency sponsor. No test, no nationality requirement.

Five documents: the passport or civil ID with copies, the vehicle registration book with a copy, the driving licence with a copy, a copy of the sponsor’s civil ID, and a letter from the residency sponsor if the applicant is on article 18.

And here is a number worth a second look: the light transport driving permit costs ten dinars, and renewing it costs seventeen. The renewal is dearer than the issue. That is how it is written on the ministry’s page. The operating licence for a shared public transport vehicle is fifteen dinars.

The public bus: Kuwaiti, and by examination

Four conditions: being a Kuwaiti national, holding a general driving licence, passing a special test in driving and traffic instructions and rules, and being familiar with the country’s geography.

Four documents: the passport or civil ID with copies, a medical examination, a criminal record certificate, and a convictions record.

The fees: KD 15 for the public transport driving permit, 20 for the passenger transport operating licence, 10 to renew the permit, 5 to renew the licence.

The difference in one line

The pickup is a sponsorship matter: whoever owns the vehicle sponsors you. The public bus is a matter of nationality and an exam: both are conditions. And note that the pickup is the only one of these permits whose renewal costs more than its issue. For the public bus and the on-demand taxi the renewal is cheaper, and for the taxi the two are equal.

Photo: a light pickup truck. By Bull-Doser, public domain via Wikimedia Commons.