feasability study regulatory sandbox car rental legistlation (case 5/DSPL 21/22)

Purpose and goal:

We want to lower the threshold for professional actors to share unused vehicles in the evenings and weekends to reduce the need for private individuals to have their own car. Through the policy lab methodology, we have identified challenges, opportunities and solutions regarding the "car rental regulation" in Sweden. A proposal on exemptions from the car rental regulation was submitted to the Government Office in order to be able to run a pilot more freely and without the usual permission. Layout and launch plan for the pilot has been developed.

Expected results and effects:

There are hundreds of thousands of company cars that are currently only used in the service and that could be made available to private individuals on evenings and weekends via so-called Peer-to-peer car sharing services that handle everything from booking, payment, opening and insurance. One of the thresholds is that, for example, a housing company that owns or leases a few cars must even have a permit for rental car operations. With modern technology, the purpose of the regulations could be better fulfilled.

Approach and implementation:

The feasibility study is based on a collaboration between RISE, Skövdebostäder and the sharing platform Ezeride and has challenged both the business model and regulations in order to be able to share and use the housing company´s service vehicles in a way that is easy for all parties. It has great value in itself. However, the feasibility study does not include the pilot itself, which is dependent on the exemption decision that has not yet been made.

Workshops have identified other important policy changes in, such as benefit taxation and competition legislation.