Romanian transporters plan protest against Uber this spring

The Confederation of Licensed Transport Operators in Romania (COTAR), which also represents the local taxi drivers, threatens to organize protests in April if the Government fails to adopt an Emergency Ordinance that would eliminate piracy and other unauthorized transport activities, such as Uber. Among other things, COTAR wants ride sharing apps such as Uber to be authorized, and have their activity regulated similarly to taxi services, reports local Digi24. “As long as there is a national law, it’s not possible that some transporters respect the laws while others defy the same laws and operate without being sanctioned,” according to a statement from COTAR. The members of the Confederation initially planned a strike for the end of March, but they decided to postpone it as the Emergency Ordinance in question is currently pending approval. “On March 17, 2017, this Emergency Ordinance was sent to the Development Ministry and the Interior Ministry for approval. According to our information, the Interior Ministry supports this ordinance. We’re now waiting for the Development Ministry’s support, and ask the Government to adopt the ordinance as soon as possible,” COTAR said in the statement. “Related to the protest, we haven’t received a response from the City Hall yet. We will wait until April 16 the Emergency Ordinance on eliminating piracy from road transport activities, otherwise COTAR will organize protests.” However, COTAR doesn’t want Uber or other similar apps to be banned, but to be authorized and become legal, according to the statement. The taxi companies have been unhappy with Uber ever since the ride-sharing app started to become very popular among Romanians, thus becoming a serious competitor to the usual taxis. COTAR previously announced a major protest against Uber in Bucharest last autumn, but it later decided to cancel it. Moreover, at the end of November, the taxi companies that have a contract with the Henri Coanda Airport near Bucharest announced their plan to stop their activity at the airport if a billboard that encourages travelers to use the Uber services would not be removed from there. Taxi drivers in Bucharest have found a way to fight their Uber competitors Uber: Romania is our second market in the region, after Poland Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com