Bucharest taxi drivers protest against ridesharing services

Around 300 taxi drivers protested in Bucharest against ridesharing transport services on the evening of January 21, News.ro reported. The taxi drivers are unhappy that state institutions tolerate services like Uber, which they say leaves them without clients. They parked their cars on one lane of the Lascăr Catargiu boulevard to show their discontent. “First Uber came on the market, then Taxify, then Blabla Car. Everyone is providing taxi services in Bucharest through an app. […] We will be on the streets every night, until something will be done. They said we should stay here 24 hours but we have families, we need to get home. We get home without money, this is it, but we need to get home,” one taxi driver told Mediafax. In September of last year, the Bucharest General Council withdrew a project on new regulations for taxi services. The project would have made the functioning of services such as Uber, Clever Taxi, Taxify or Star Taxi impossible. The Bucharest Police said it started an investigation after the protest as a case of the traffic on public roads being prevented or made difficult. New draft ordinance for changing Romania’s taxi law may impact Uber, Taxify New bill regulating activity of Uber, Taxify in Romania, submitted to Parliament Bucharest taxi drivers to be sanctioned if they refuse trips Bucharest mayor wants to eliminate “taxi mafia” in Old Town (Photo: Pixabay) editor@romania-insider.com