A2 has revealed the agreement between the Association of Driving Schools, the General Directorate of Taxes, and that of Road Transport for the increase in the prices of driving licenses. The increase will be two to three times greater starting in April, depending on the category. With the new costs, Albania is now among the nations where getting a driving license is most expensive in terms of salaries.
Depending on the category, getting a license will cost two to three times more starting in April. Today, excluding the medical certificates and documents, a student must pay about 45,000 lek for the most popular category of driving license, “B.” With the new prices, the price will rise to 85,000 lek.
The agreement between the Association of Driving Schools, the General Directorate of Taxes, and that of Road Transport, as made public by A2, states that the increased number of hours of theory and practice in driving schools will better prepare new drivers, thus justifying the new prices.
Tonin Gjinaj of the Association of Driving Schools stated, “There will be a training session based on article 121 of the Road Code in the Republic of Albania, which consists of 36 hours of theory and 34 practical sessions for class B.
A license in category A1 will cost 45,000 lek, a license in category A2 will cost 55,000 lek, and a license in class B1 will cost 55,000 lek. Class C driving licenses, which allow for the operation of vehicles with an 8+1 capacity, cost 95,000 lek, class D licenses cost 125,000 lek, and the price of regaining lost points is 32,000 lek.
“We are in the region’s average range. We are unable to advertise driving license tourism. If Northern Macedonia has 700 euros, we are moving towards that too. Greece and Italy as well,” said Tonin Gjinaj.
In fact, Kosovo charges 300 euros for the course, compared to Albania’s new price of 85,000 lek, or 740 euros. However, the cost of a class B license is very high compared to salaries, compared to countries like Italy, France, or Germany, where the course, documentation, and total fees range from 1400 to 3000 euros. In the meantime, payments to driving schools will no longer be made in cash but rather through banks in accordance with the agreement reached.