Boating licenses: are the new minimum fees unconstitutional?

Not even time to go into effect and already the new minimum fees for nautical schools end up in the storm. As of Oct. 31, in fact, facilities that prepare future captains for the recreational license must apply the new amounts set by Ministerial Decree No. 142 of Aug. 30, 2023. But the Lazio Regional Administrative Court, in a June 18 order (published Oct. 23), raised serious doubts about the constitutionality of the entire regulatory framework, referring the matter to the Constitutional Court. The new tariffs will therefore remain in place, but their future is somewhat uncertain.

Boating licenses, una sting for those who want to obtain them

At the center of the dispute is the Boating Schools Decree, a regulation designed to regulate and standardize the industry but which also introduced a real business revolution: a single national fee schedule.

In practice, all schools on the Peninsula, from Milan to Sciacca, will have to charge the same minimum prices for driver’s license preparation courses, with no room for flexibility related to local cost differences or market dynamics.

And the prices are certainly not light:

– 700 euros for the D1 license

– 1,100 euros for A, C or D2 licenses within 12 miles,

– 1,400 euros for A, C, D2 license with no limit from the coast.

Amounts that are often higher than what could be found so far on the market and that in any case do not allow for real free competition among schools. The fee schedule figures include a minimum of theory lessons (5 for a D1 license; 20 for A, C and D2 licenses within 12 miles; 40 for A, C and D2 licenses with no limit from the coast) and at least 5 hours of practice, but they exclude administrative costs (submission of the application for admission to the exam, issuance of the boating license and medical certificate) and the minimum cost, also set at 90 euros per hour, for any additional practical sailing or motor lessons.

The unknown of the appeal to the Tar

The decree, although passed two years ago, required schools already in operation to comply within 2 years (Oct. 31, 2025) perhaps because of this many regulations had gone almost unnoticed. But one Roman sailing school, “Altura,” immediately decided to oppose it.

Accustomed to charging lower fees, they challenged the measure before the Lazio Regional Administrative Court, contesting not only the fee schedule, which they say violates free market principles, causes prices to soar and risks driving newcomers away from the boating world, but also the new minimum asset requirement of 50,000 euros imposed on schools. In addition, the very legitimacy of the legislative decrees that gave rise to the measure in question is questioned.

Defending the decree before the Regional Administrative Court were four ministries(Infrastructure, Economy, Education and Enterprise) flanked by the State Attorney’s Office plus Confarca, the driving school trade association. Arguments in favor include the fact that minimum prices serve to prevent unfair competition, guarantee course quality and provide an objective parameter for assessing schools’ revenues. The 50,000-euro capital requirement, on the other hand, would also be justified by the business risk of the activity being classified as “average.”

The decision of the Regional Administrative Court, however, surprised everyone: the judges neither upheld nor rejected the appeal, but suspended the judgment by remanding the proceedings to the Constitutional Court, which is now called upon to determine whether the government has indeed gone beyond the mandate it received from Parliament by introducing economic constraints and tariffs that were not provided for in the enabling act. Until the ruling of the Constitutional Court, the future of minimum rates and minimum capital thus remains suspended in the waves of uncertainty.

The boating license business

According to the latest data from the Ministry of Infrastructure, 21,716 nautical licenses were issued in Italy in 2024, of which about 70 percent were issued within 12 miles of the coast. Numbers that fuel a high turnover that, at ministerial fee schedule prices, can be estimated at about 26 million euros. This is a conservative estimate, since it does not take into account extra practice exits or those who charge higher fees.

In short, a rich and contested pie that over the years has ignited more than one dispute between nautical schools, associations and boating bodies, all looking for a slice of business. A prosperous market where the losers are in danger of being aspiring skippers and future owners, who are now forced to deal with increasingly high preparation costs. A paradox that threatens to sink the idea of truly accessible and popular boating.

For private learners

Of course, for those who decide to take the exam privately, nothing changes from the past for theory. He will be able to study “from home” based on the exam questions posted on the ministry’s website and take the theory exam. But to access the practical exam he will still have to have completed five certified hours at a nautical school, which, according to the minimum fees, will cost no less than (90 euros per hour for five hours) 450 euros.

Fabrizio Coccia