Protest day: 12 euros extra per Uber journey? The taxi driver’s wrestle for brand new minimal costs | EUROtoday

In greater than a dozen cities, taxi drivers protested with autocorsos on July 2 towards what they imagine unfair aggressive circumstances. Organized by the Federal Association of Taxi and Mietwagen e. V., the protest is directed towards platform suppliers equivalent to Uber and Bolt – and towards politics, which, from the affiliation’s viewpoint, watches standless.

“In the taxi there are official prices and revision -proof records of all processes – Wildwest and arbitrariness prevail at Uber & Co. This way, competition cannot work,” criticizes Michael Oppermann, Managing Director of the Association. He makes it clear: “We demand equal weapons: minimum prices for everyone instead of just for us.”

The background: While taxitals are decided and strictly monitored by municipal committees, rental automotive firms have to this point been capable of decide their costs themselves. This permits platforms to push onto the market with generally very low costs – primarily in massive cities. There, the basic taxi trade is more and more beneath stress, in response to the affiliation’s argument.

Uber doesn’t see itself as an issue

The protest day is an expression of a deeper battle: basic regulation towards digital platform economic system. So much is at stake for the taxi companies-not solely economically, but additionally structurally. “If over-dumping comes up on top, it becomes a taxi killer,” warns the trade affiliation.

The US group, however, is wrongly focused. In a written assertion, the corporate refers to “structural problems” of the taxi industrial, which might not be attributable to platforms. “Taxis are almost everywhere in a deep crisis – even in cities where Uber is not active at all,” it says.

The proposal of the taxi affiliation to introduce legally regulated minimal costs for rental automotive suppliers is considerably rejected by Uber. One doubts the effectiveness: “Minimum prices would not lead to more passengers for the taxi, but would drive them again increasingly in their own cars,” argues the corporate – on the subject of a research that was created on behalf of Uber by the consulting firm IW Consult.

Competitors Bolt additionally reject flat -rate minimal driving costs. “Our analyzes show that a price increase of ten percent can cause a dawn of up to 15 percent – which leads directly to fewer trips and less income for drivers,” says the corporate on request.

Bolt replies the accusation that your individual enterprise mannequin favored social dumping or undeclared work: Illegal motion doesn’t come up from tariff design, however by making the most of proper -wing gaps. Minimum costs subsequently hit the fallacious ones. Instead, focused measures are necessary- equivalent to a nationwide, digital real-time register for taxi and rental automotive licenses.

In reality, firms and drivers use the platforms repeatedly. According to a analysis by the RBB, not less than each fifth automotive will be booked in Berlin with out permission. Since then, the Berlin Senate has efficiently taken unlawful automobiles.

Uber approaches the taxi driver and publicly positions himself as a accomplice of the taxi firm. The commerce needs to assist the commerce to “address new target groups through technology and achieve higher revenues”. The firm refers to its personal cooperation with taxi facilities – for instance with the Taxi Auto central Stuttgart (taz).

The taxi affiliation rejects this reasoning. Uber is “definitely not a reliable partner of the taxi commercial”, says a counterpart by managing director Oppermann. The indisputable fact that Uber will take up taxis into his app is above all a picture transfer: “In Germany, Uber only conveys taxis, among other things, because customers have great reservations about the dumping driving services.”

The affiliation additionally considers the argument that minimal costs are handed by passengers. “The smallest part does not use the private car for the trip in Uber. The argument is a fog candle from Uber that does not ignite.”

But what would the introduction of a minimal worth for Uber and Co. imply for patrons? In the Munich case, Uber decided that the typical experience of round eleven kilometers would turn out to be round twelve euros costlier. At request, Bolt assumes between ten and 30 % in an evaluation of worth will increase. “The artificial increase in prices for rental car rides planned by politics particularly affects consumers who suffer from the enormous price increases in recent years,” stated Uber Germany boss Christoph Weigler.

However, the taxi affiliation sees the legislator on the introduction of minimal costs on its facet: “For around four years, cities and municipalities have had the opportunity to ensure fair competition in passenger transport.” The affiliation refers to adjustments within the Passenger Transport Act, which have utilized since 2021. According to this, approval authorities are allowed to outline minimal transport charges for site visitors with rental vehicles – together with Bolt and Uber.

Leipzig was one of many first municipalities that launched minimal costs for rental vehicles. The metropolis needed to withdraw its corresponding regulation in the intervening time – the prize set in it was too excessive, the court docket stated. The taxi affiliation nonetheless celebrated the judgment of the executive court docket as successful. Because the court docket discovered that minimal costs are basically allowed to guard the taxi industrial.

Instead, Uber sees the judgment proof of the excessive authorized hurdles within the introduction of minimal costs. In addition, one refers to a case legislation of the European Court of Justice. The latter dominated that mere securing of the financial existence of the taxi industrial shouldn’t be ample as a ample motive to restrict the rights of rental automotive firms.

One factor is evident: the controversy about the way forward for passenger transport will likely be re -lited up with the protest day. Cities like Munich and Berlin are at present inspecting whether or not minimal costs will be launched to the suppliers.

Klemens Handke is an editor within the financial competence heart. He experiences on transport coverage and Deutsche Bahn.