Bolt rejects these criticisms, arguing that the company is not responsible for organizing integration in Estonia, while the number of complaints on the language issue run at around one for every 50,000 trips.

The conversation comes as the coalition plans to harmonize legislation to provide better supervision not only with ride hailing and food courier apps, but in other areas, including local government, too.

In respect of taxi drivers including those using the Bolt app to provide their services, the Ministry of Education and Research says it supports a complete reset.

This reset would involve annulling current permits, in order to re-issue them after verifying the driver's language proficiency.

Ministry: Nearly 80,000 people in current employment cannot communicate in Estonian

Bolt says however that this could result in half of the platform taxis leaving the streets, leading to longer waiting times and doubled prices for customers.

The Language Inspectorate (Keeleamet) and the Ministry of Education also say that a lack of Estonian language skills is a broader societal issue which goes beyond just taxi drivers.

Kätlin Kõverik, the education ministry's chief language policy departmental expert, told AK.Nädal: "According to data from Statistics Estonia, nearly 80,000 people in employment cannot communicate in Estonian."

"As of today, many state-level services are available in three languages, making Estonian language proficiency not necessary in a critical sense."

"The demand for Estonian language proficiency needs to change, and we need to be more effective in supervision," Kõverik went on.

Kõverik added that current penalties have not kept up with wage growth, and so do not act as an effective incentive in learning Estonian.

"While the average salary has doubled over the past ten years, fines have not risen, and the average fine last year was €103. This is not a sufficient deterrent to motivate people to learn Estonian and to comply with requirements," she said.

"What the state can do is enhance supervision, and the direction we are moving in is to increase fines," Kõverik noted.

"We have many drivers on the streets who do not speak Estonian," the official added.

Language Inspectorate: We are legally practically powerless to enforce requirements

The Language Inspectorate (Keeleamet) says its current ability to enforce language requirements are practically useless.

The organization's director, Ilmar Tomusk, illustrated this by the following albeit whimsical example: "Let's say we strike off all speed limits from the traffic legislation, take down all 90 [kilometers per hour – the national speed limit on most highways] signs on the highways, but then tell the police they have to ensure no one drives over 90."

"The Language Inspectorate is in exactly the same situation as that, when it comes to enforcing some of the language requirements," Tomusk told "AK.Nädal."

"If there is no requirement enshrined in the law, people will not learn Estonia, as very well evidenced by the current transition to Estonian as the language of instruction," Tomusk continued.

A quarter of non-Estonian speakers work in areas where language requirements are set out, AK.Nädal reported.

The lack of Estonian language skills is particularly acute in the service sector, including in ride hailing and food courier app services, and also in education and in the medical sector.

Henri Arras, Bolt's head of government relations, said the company does not have an overview of how many of their platform's taxi drivers have serviceable Estonian, partly due to data protection concerns.

This also raise the question of what an adequate level of Estonia might look like, considering the Bolt app, for instance, notifies the taxi driver of pick up and drop off locations, a GPS package such as Google Maps or Waze can enable them to navigate their way from A to B etc.

Kõverik put this at B1 level in the Common European Framework (CEF) of languages, the same level required when applying for Estonian citizenship. At the same time, the law requiring B1 level to hold a taxi permit cannot regulate language requirements themselves – these fall under the Language Act regulations.

In other words, enforcing the requirement falls through the gap in between legislation as it stands, a situation which Ilmar Tomusk called to be rectified.

"For this requirement to be enforceable, it needs to be written into the language law. Otherwise, we do not have the right to enforce it. We can only check what is stipulated in the language law. Currently, there are no language requirements. So, if a person who does not speak Estonian wants to get a service card, they must be granted one according to the law," he said.

Bolt: We get around 20 language complaints for every million rides

Henri Arras at Bolt said any lack of language ability on the part of drivers is not an issue for most customers, arguing "users have not been expressing such a desire with their wallets. They put price and availability first. We get about 20 complaints on language issues per million rides."

Bolt does not consider its taxi drivers and couriers as the company's calling card; the app itself fulfills this role, he said.

Tomusk disagreed that the issue was solely one of a digital app which users can set to the language of their choice – including Estonian, in the case of Bolt.

"It is a real and physical interaction," Tomusk noted.

"There are quite a few instances where communication with the taxi driver is necessary, such as traveling with a minor and asking if there is a child seat. In case of a hazardous situation or a road traffic accident, the individual responsible for the passenger's safety should be able to determine if the passenger has any issues, if they are injured, and should be able to call the emergency services," the language inspectorate chief went on.

While the latter action, ie. dialing 112 and speaking to an operator can at all times, in Estonia, be done in English or Russian, anecdotal reports have it that some Bolt taxi drivers do not speak these languages either.

Arras said that Bolt have taken measures to boost the Estonian language level of drivers using their platform as a means of earning income.

This included distributing booklets which contained around 50 key phrases, from polite greetings to practical phrases such as "Shall I put the suitcase in the trunk?"

"But if we are talking about integrating people who live in Estonia, that is a completely different issue, not a transportation matter," Arras said.

The Riigikogu this week struck down an Isamaa bill which included a requirement for taxi drivers to demonstrate sufficient proficiency in the national language.

The ruling Reform-Isamaa-SDE coalition justified the development with their plan to introduce a comprehensive new language law.

Ilmar Tomusk also highlighted the issue of at least one local council where the regular working language is, despite complaints, Russian.

Kõverik said that local legislatures and executives, too, fall into a loophole, legislation-wise, but that this issue is also to be addressed in the language law reforms.

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