Romanian Govt. passes bill potentially affecting ride-sharing services

Romania’s Government on March 29 passed an emergency ordinance (OUG) amending law 38/2003 that regulates the activity of taxi services and car rental services, potentially affecting the ride-sharing services as well.

Wall-street.ro announced the bill as “outlawing Uber and Taxify (Bolt)”, but the firms themselves claim that the bill has no impact on their activity, on the short term.

Deputy prime minister Daniel Suciu, speaking of the bill, said that “it is not directed against anybody” but he also mentioned that a key provision was amended. Namely, under the revised provision, those providing passenger transport services without the necessary licenses can be fined immediately. Until now, only those “repeatedly” providing such services were liable to fines, which made it very difficult to sanction drivers that didn't have a taxi license.

Representatives of both Uber and Bolt claim that the emergency ordinance has nothing to do with their operations and that they expect another bill to regulate ride-sharing services.

“Today’s EO doesn’t change anything for Uber in Bucharest - we will continue to operate as usual. What is more, the Government made clear it’s intentions to regulate the ridesharing sector through a separate EO, in the coming weeks. We appreciate the Government’s commitment to speed up the adoption of modern regulation of the ridesharing sector to meet the needs of consumers and drivers across Romania," said an Uber spokesperson.

According to Uber, the emergency ordinance adopted on Friday has a 60-day buffer period, during which regulation for ride-sharing services should be adopted.

(Photo source: Uber Romania)