You hold a category B licence, but the back of it carries code 78. In practice that narrows the choice of hire cars abroad, a company car may go untaken, and your partner's car sits in the yard — even though you know how to drive.
Getting rid of code 78 does not mean a new driving school or a new theory course. The law provides for a short transition: a couple of driving lessons and one exam. This page sets out exactly what the law asks, what it costs and in what order things happen.
What code 78 means
If the driving exam was passed in a car with automatic transmission, code 78 is entered on the licence (määrus nr 50 § 13 lg 6, annex 18). The licence is then valid only for driving such a car.
The code is not a judgement on your skills. It simply records which car the exam was taken in, and that can be changed.
One point here is strict: sitting behind the wheel of a manual car while your licence carries code 78 counts in law as driving without the right to drive. Until the exam is passed, a car with a clutch is closed to you — even when a friend offers to let you "just try it once". The only place you may touch a clutch right now is a driving lesson with an instructor.
What the law requires
This is the most important part of the page, and the news is good.
The theory exam does not have to be retaken. You already know the rules, and they did not change because the gearbox did.
Only the second stage of the driving exam (sõidueksam) is taken — the town drive (linnasõit). That is what määrus nr 50, annex 1 says (as amended by määrus nr 2 of 13.01.2025), in the row "siduripedaalita auto juhtimiselt käsikäiguvahetusega auto juhtimiseks".
Category B has no separate manoeuvring-area stage (platsisõit) at all: the exercises — turning around in a restricted area, parking with a manoeuvre — are performed in traffic, on ordinary streets. So the exam means the same driving you already do every day, only with a different gearbox.
Two driving lessons are prescribed. Määrus nr 60, annex 4, table 3, row "Üleminek teisele käiguvahetussüsteemile" sets out, for categories B, C and D, zero hours of theory and at least two driving lessons as further training (täiendusõpe).
Once the lessons are done, the school issues a course certificate (koolituskursuse tunnistus) and submits the data to the traffic register (liiklusregister) on the day the certificate is issued, or by the next working day at the latest.
Step by step
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Sign up for the training
Fill in the form on this page or call us. There are no prerequisites beyond a valid licence.
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Two driving lessons
You drive our car with our own instructor — Kindel Rool does not hand training to subcontractors. The first lesson usually goes on the clutch and moving off, the second into traffic: junctions, hill starts, parking, changing gear at a real pace.
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Certificate and register entry
After the training you receive the course certificate and we send the data to the register — by the next working day at the latest.
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Book the exam
You book the time in the Transpordiamet e-service (e-teenindus). The state fee for registering and taking the driving exam is €50. The exam is taken in a Transpordiamet car, as every driving exam is — the school does not provide an exam car. So expect an unfamiliar manual car under you on the day.
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The driving exam
The second stage only, the town drive. What is assessed is ordinary coping in traffic, not how smoothly you move from third to second.
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The right to drive and the new licence
The right to drive arises as soon as the exam result is formalised (LS § 106 lg 2) — you may drive a manual the same day. Transpordiamet issues the new licence within 10 working days (LS § 98 lg 2). The state fee for issuing it is €33, or €23 when applied for through the e-service.
What it costs
| For what | Amount |
|---|---|
| Two driving lessons (2 × €40) | €80 |
| Issuing the course certificate | €19 |
| Registering and taking the driving exam (state fee) | €50 |
| Issuing the licence through the e-service (state fee) | €23 |
| Total | €172 |
That is one hundred and seventy-two euros in total: €99 to the school and €73 in state fees. If you apply for the licence in person rather than through the e-service, the issuing fee is €33 and the total comes to one hundred and eighty-two euros.
If the exam is not passed at the first attempt, the €50 exam fee is payable again for each attempt. Our tuition price is final: we do not put the word "from" in front of a price, and we do not add lines to the invoice that were never discussed.
How many lessons you actually need
The law asks for two. The honest answer is that the real number depends on you.
If you have driven a manual at some point — your parents' car, a few years in another country, a van at work — two lessons usually mean getting the feel back, and that is enough.
If you have never touched a clutch, two lessons are the legal minimum rather than a forecast. Changing gear becomes automatic only once you stop thinking about it, and everyone reaches that at their own pace. Three or four lessons is then normal, not a failure.
We do not promise that the exam will be passed first time — no school can promise that. What your instructor will do is tell you honestly, before you book, whether you are ready.
Common questions
Do I have to retake the theory exam?
No. No theory exam is prescribed for the change to a manual car.
Do I have to drive on a manoeuvring area?
No. Category B has no such stage at all — every exercise is done in traffic. The transition means the second stage of the driving exam, the town drive.
Whose car is the exam taken in?
A Transpordiamet car. The school does not provide an exam car — that holds for the ordinary driving exam and for the code 78 transition alike. It is worth using the lessons so that changing gear feels certain in an unfamiliar car too.
May I practise in my own car or a friend's before the exam?
No. While code 78 stands on your licence, driving a manual car is driving without the corresponding right. Practice happens in a lesson with an instructor.
How quickly do I get the new licence?
The right to drive arises as soon as the result is formalised, so you may drive a manual that same day. The new plastic card reaches you within 10 working days.
What if I do not pass?
You book a new time and pay the exam fee again. Before that it is worth taking another lesson or two — usually one specific situation is the obstacle, not your driving as a whole.
Does code 78 disappear by itself after years of driving?
No. It is removed only after a passed driving exam.
Do the two lessons have to be back to back?
No. You can take them on one day or split them over two — either works. We fit the times around your schedule.
Two lessons, one exam — and the hire-car list abroad stops narrowing because of a gearbox.
+372 55 44 007 Messenger info@kindelrool.eeSign up: removing code 78
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Sources: code 78 — määrus nr 50 § 13 lg 6 and annex 18; training volume — määrus nr 60, annex 4, table 3; the make-up of the exam — määrus nr 50, annex 1 as amended by määrus nr 2 (13.01.2025); state fees — riigilõivuseadus; when the right to drive arises and when the licence is issued — liiklusseadus § 106 lg 2 and § 98 lg 2. Checked 27.08.2026.