Croatian government proposes new hospitality and taxi regulations

The Croatian cabinet has submitted a draft Law on hospitality activities that introduces a mandatory registration number for all short‑term rental units advertised on global platforms. Minister of Tourism and Sports Tonči Glavina said, “Uspostavlja se jedinstven sustav registracije iznajmljivača i uvodi obvezni registracijski broj za sobe, apartmane i kuće za odmor”. Platforms that fail to provide the data or control their hosts face fines of €13 000‑€130 000 or 1‑6 % of annual revenue. The law also bans the sale of energy drinks to minors, restricts new permits for apartments in residential areas, and requires electronic processing of all administrative procedures through the eTurizam system.

In parallel, a separate amendment to the Road Transport Act will give the minister of the sea, transport and infrastructure authority to set taxi fare components – start‑up fee, kilometre, minute and waiting charges – and to display the maximum price and planned route to passengers before the ride starts. The amendment mandates special TX licence plates for taxis and extends enforcement powers to customs, municipal inspectors and police, with higher penalties for non‑compliance.

Both measures aim to improve transparency, protect consumers and enable more reliable tourism and transport statistics. The government also created a working group to analyse any future changes to administrative fees, ensuring they are assessed for inflationary impact before adoption.