The protests of Romanian taxi drivers
\nagainst alternative ridesharing services have yielded results. They demanded
\nthe elimination of the competition, which they regarded as unfair because the
\ndrivers of these companies did not have similar obligations as taxi drivers
\nand, moreover, their incomes were not subject to tax. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The changes made by the government
\nto the taxi law which came into force on Thursday and which make alternative
\nridesharing almost impossible have already caused effects. Four drivers were
\nfined in Bucharest, three of them being banned for using their cars for six
\nmonths. Under the new provisions, drivers who use ridesharing platforms such
\nas Clever, Bolt and Uber and who do not have a taxi licence are liable to fines
\nthat can go to as much as 10,000 euros. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The transport minister Razvan Cuc
\nsays, however, that the new law does not ban ridesharing platforms and has advised
\nthe drivers who were fined to appeal the fines in court if they feel they were
\nwronged. The authorities have given assurances that they will issue new
\nlegislation to regulate this market and the operation of companies such as Uber
\nand Clever. Transport minister Razvan Cuc:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
We’ve been working on the draft of
\nthe order for a month. The representatives of Uber, Clever and Bolt came to the
\nministry, we talked, they had some suggestions and we agreed to hold a new
\nmeeting next week to finalise and integrate these observations. So we are
\nworking to regulate this field. The order we have issued, Ordinance no. 21, is
\nintended to combat piracy. As far as I know, piracy is when you transport
\npeople and do not declare the money you receive. I know that in Uber’s case,
\nwhen you place an order, the payment is made online and proof is issued that
\nthe payment was made, so they are not pirates.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
According to the Coalition for a
\nDigital Economy, which represents Uber, Bolt and Clever, the number of
\nridesharing drivers working on Thursday dropped by 25% compared with the daily
\naverage, which led to an increase in waiting time to more than ten minutes. This
\nis caused by the uncertainty created by the delay in the adoption of specific
\nregulations and the enforcement of the changes to the taxi law, explained the
\nrepresentatives of the Coalition for a Digital Economy, adding that this
\nuncertainty is likely to continue until the government passes the new
\nregulation. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Under Romanias new taxi law, which came into force on Thursday, the drivers of companies that provide alternative transport services are liable to fines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":81819,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[39667],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-81846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-taxi"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n