Who May Drive a Vehicle
Georgian road traffic law defines strictly who is allowed to drive a vehicle of a particular category or subcategory. Only a person whose state of health meets the requirements established by Georgian legislation for driving may hold such a right. In addition, the person must have been granted, under the procedure established by law, the right to drive a vehicle of the relevant category or subcategory, and that right must not be suspended, revoked or terminated — that is, cancelled.
A special rule applies to the practical part of the qualifying examination: a person whom the agency has admitted to the second stage of the practical driving test is entitled to take part in that stage while it lasts. The law therefore links the use of driving rights both to the driver's state of health and to the formal existence and status of the right itself: driving on a temporarily suspended or fully revoked right is not permitted.
The Examination and the Grant of Driving Rights
The right to drive may be granted to a person who has passed the relevant qualifying examination. The examination is theoretical and practical in form, and the practical examination may be one-stage or two-stage. Except in cases provided for by Georgian legislation, successfully passing the examination is the basis on which the driving right is granted.
An equivalence rule also operates between categories: a holder of the right to drive a category "A", "B", "C" or "D" vehicle may additionally drive a subcategory "A1", "A2", "B1", "C1" or "D1" vehicle established within those categories. In practice, this means that, for example, the holder of a category "B" licence does not sit a separate test for subcategory "B1".
For a person who has not reached the age of 18, the law adds an extra requirement: in the case provided for by legislation, the admission of such a person to the examination requires the written consent of one of their parents or a guardian. If the person under 18 passes the examination successfully, they are granted the right to drive a vehicle of the relevant category or subcategory and are issued a driving licence.
The Driving Licence and Its Period of Validity
The conduct of examinations, the grant and cancellation of driving rights, the restoration of suspended, revoked or terminated rights, and the issue, replacement, restoration and cancellation of the driving licence, the tram-driving licence and the international driving licence are all carried out, within its competence, by the agency. The grant of a driving right is confirmed by the issue of a driving licence, while the right to drive a tram is confirmed by a tram-driving licence. For every category or subcategory, the date on which the driving right is granted is considered to be the date of issue of the licence for that category or subcategory.
The validity of the licence depends on the category:
- for categories "AM", "A", "B", "BE", "T" and "S" and subcategories "A1", "A2" and "B1" the licence is issued for 15 years;
- for categories "C", "CE", "D" and "DE" and subcategories "C1", "C1E", "D1" and "D1E" — for 5 years;
- the tram-driving licence — for 5 years.
Where an authorized person notes, in the medical certificate on the state of health, a recommendation that the licence be issued for a restricted period, the licence is issued for the period determined as necessary for the mandatory re-examination of the person's health, but for no more than 5 years for categories "AM", "A", "B", "BE", "T" and "S" and subcategories "A1", "A2" and "B1", and no more than 3 years for categories "C", "CE", "D" and "DE", subcategories "C1", "C1E", "D1" and "D1E", and the tram-driving licence. The procedure for renewing such validity is determined by an order of the Minister of Internal Affairs, and the validity of a licence may likewise be shortened under a procedure established by the Minister.
The Points System on the Driving Licence
A driving licence issued in Georgia is subject to a points system. A licence is credited with 100 points on the 1st of January of every calendar year, on the day the licence is issued during a calendar year, and on the restoration of a driving right in the special cases provided for by law. Obtaining an additional category, the restoration in the same year of a suspended or revoked right, the replacement of a licence or the restoration of a lost licence does not increase or otherwise change the number of points.
The points credited to a licence remain in force for the whole calendar year. On the 1st of January of the following year the remaining points become void and the licence is credited afresh with 100 points. Committing an administrative offence in the field of road traffic during the calendar year reduces the number of points under the procedure established by the relevant annex to the law. If the number of points falls so low that it equals zero or a figure below zero, the points are considered exhausted, which entails the suspension for 1 year of the holder's right to drive vehicles of every category and subcategory.
The competent body of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is obliged to warn the licence holder by email or short text message about the risk of suspension when the points are reduced to 50 and then to 20, provided it holds the person's contact details. The administration of the points system is governed by an order of the Minister of Internal Affairs.
A driving licence issued by a foreign state is credited with 100 points once on the territory of Georgia — from the day it takes legal effect, and in other cases provided for by law. The general rules of the points system extend to such a licence. If the points credited to a foreign licence are exhausted, its holder is prohibited from driving a mechanical vehicle in Georgia, and the restoration of the right to drive takes place under the procedure established by an order of the Minister of Internal Affairs. Note that the point-reduction rule does not apply to administrative offences recorded on photo or video film.
Re-Verification of the State of Health
The agency is authorized to re-verify, through the unified information database, whether the state of health of a licence holder still complies with the requirements necessary for driving. This means that even while a licence is valid the state monitors whether the driver retains the state of health that driving requires.
Driver Training Establishments and Learner Driving
The rights and duties of driver training establishments and instructor-teachers, the rules of their activity, the material and technical base, the forms of control over them, and the training programmes for theoretical and practical instruction are determined by the relevant resolution of the Government of Georgia. An establishment may deliver theoretical or practical training separately; a person who has completed one course may continue the remaining course at a different establishment.
Except in cases provided for by legislation, only a person who has successfully completed the full course of both theoretical and practical driver training is admitted to the qualifying examination. For the purposes of learner driving, the law treats the term "vehicle" as covering the vehicles of the categories and subcategories defined by the law, while the detailed rules of learner driving are laid down by other provisions of the law and its annexes.