Brandenburg: Dispute between AOK and transport services escalates – Politics steps in

For journeys of AOK insured persons in Brandenburg, different price rules should apply in the future, depending on the type of conveyance. For car rental companies a nationwide uniform price table is planned. For taxi rides, however, the regional taxi tariff currently in force should continue to apply.

Exempt from this regulation are medically regularly necessary trips to dialysis, chemotherapy or radiotherapy, provided that there is already a so-called serial transport certificate.

Negotiations failed – providers unite

The Brandenburg Working Group of Ride Service Providers (BAGF) regards the negotiations with AOK as failed. According to BAGF, there have indeed been intensive discussions, but they did not lead to a viable solution for patient care from the providers' perspective.

Representatives of the ride services also stated that it had proven counterproductive to be played off against each other by clients. Instead, the industry is now presenting a united front. At the same time they expressed the wish that policymakers get more involved — similar to other federal states where there are partly already accepted framework contracts.

Cost pressure from personnel and operating costs

The providers point to what they see as an acute economic problem. Around 70 percent of the expenditures in ride services go to personnel costs. Any increase in the statutory minimum wage would therefore have an immediate and substantial impact and must, from the industry's perspective, be reflected in higher compensation by the clients.

To illustrate, the speakers referred to the example of a car dealership that, due to the minimum wage increase, had to raise its workshop hourly rate from €65 to €90 — which in turn entails higher costs for fleet owners.

According to the providers, the business is already partly loss-making or "self-exploitative". As a result, some companies have already exited the market.

Special role of the taxi trade

Representatives of the industry pointed out that the taxi trade is the only part of public transport that must operate without state subsidies. Unlike in other areas, there are also no union strike funds in the taxi trade that could compensate for income losses. Against this background, companies regard the current step in Brandenburg as existentially risky.

Criticism of the Ministry of Labour

According to the speakers, the urgency of the economic situation in the responsible Ministry of Labour has not yet been sufficiently recognized. The participating associations announced that they would evaluate the interim result of the last negotiating round and continue to press for the AOK to return to the negotiating table in earnest.