Law No. 21,797, published in the Official Gazette on February 7, 2026, amends Traffic Law No. 18,290, Mandatory Vehicle Insurance Law No. 18,490 (SOAP), and Article 66 of the Labor Code. Some rules are already in effect; others await the regulation that the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications must issue within the next 12 months.
What changed
The law strengthens the fitness standard for driving. Every applicant or license holder must sign a sworn declaration attesting that they do not suffer from disabling or restrictive conditions defined by regulation. The physical and psychological assessment will follow a unified regulation from the Ministry of Transport co-signed by the Ministry of Health, which will set the mandatory procedure for municipalities.
False declarations carry specific consequences: they are classified as an infraction under the new No. 47 of Article 200 of the Traffic Law and result in license cancellation under the new Article 209 bis.
For vehicle equipment, passenger transport vehicles, cargo vehicles, public transit vehicles, and vehicles where rearward vision from inside is not possible must be equipped with two conventional external side mirrors or with cameras, monitors, or equivalent indirect vision devices. For Class C vehicles (motorcycles and similar), passengers must be at least 12 years old, keep their feet on the side footrests, and cannot be positioned between the driver and the handlebars.
On SOAP, the law doubles the coverage under Article 25 of Law No. 18,490: death and total permanent disability increase to 600 UF, partial permanent disability to 400 UF, and medical expenses up to 600 UF. Additionally, it reduces the death benefit payment deadline to 7 days from submission of required documentation.
On the labor front, a worker entitled to the 7-day paid leave under Article 66, paragraph 1, of the Labor Code (death of a child, spouse, or civil partner) now has job protection (fuero) for one month from the date of death. For fixed-term or project-based contracts, the protection lasts for the same period or until contract expiry, whichever comes first.
Effective dates are staggered: Traffic Law amendments take effect 90 days after the regulation is published (the MTT has 12 months to issue it). SOAP and Article 66 amendments take effect from the date of publication, with no waiting period.
What this could mean for your company
If your company operates a passenger or cargo fleet, the operational burden is twofold. On the documentation side, you must incorporate the sworn health declaration into the recruitment process and periodic driver reviews, and archive that declaration alongside physical and psychological assessments under the future regulation standard. On the infrastructure side, you must conduct a gap assessment for rear-vision equipment: which vehicles already comply, which need cameras or equivalent monitors, and what the retrofit costs are.
License cancellation for false declarations creates a labor problem for the employer. If a driver falsely declared fitness and the condition is discovered, the license is revoked and, consequently, the capacity to perform the contracted role is lost.
For insurers and companies purchasing SOAP for their fleets, the reduction to 7 days for the death benefit payment changes the internal SLA. Claims and back-office teams need more agile procedures to collect and submit documentation.
For all employers (not just transport), the Article 66 job protection period is the change with the broadest cross-cutting impact. During the calendar month following the death of a worker's child, spouse, or civil partner, the company cannot terminate the employment relationship without prior judicial authorization (desafuero). Non-compliance triggers dismissal nullity, reinstatement, and wage payment until ratification.
The subjective scope: protection is limited to workers under Article 66, paragraph 1 — those who suffer the death of a child, spouse, or civil partner. The leave under paragraph 2 (death of a child during gestation, or death of a parent) maintains 3 business days but does not trigger job protection.
What you can do
- If you operate a fleet, conduct a vehicle-by-vehicle inventory of compliance with the new indirect vision requirements and budget the necessary retrofits to be ready 90 days after the MTT regulation is published.
- Update employment contracts, internal regulations, and recruitment checklists to incorporate the sworn health declaration, the obligation to report relevant health changes, and the protocol for license cancellation scenarios. Train fleet supervisors and HR.
- Adjust termination policies to incorporate the Article 66 job protection period: block dismissals during the calendar month following the death of a worker's child, spouse, or civil partner, and document protocols requiring legal consultation before any termination in that period.
If you need to audit your fleet's compliance, review contracts and internal regulations, or design a bereavement job protection protocol, schedule a consultation with Cubillos Lama
This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice for any specific case.