BVTM invites to the Parliamentary Taxi Evening – many words, hardly any perspective

An impressive setting was the backdrop for this year's Parliamentary Taxi Evening in Berlin: Unter den Linden in the VW Drive, between iconic models of the Wolfsburg-based automaker. The Federal Association for Taxi and Rental Cars (BVTM) had invited as parliamentarians Michael Donth (CDU), Stefan Zierke (SPD) and Victoria Broßart of the Greens.

Keynote addresses by Kollar and Kiel d’Aragon

With two keynote addresses, the evening began. BVTM President Herwig Kollar welcomed the taxi operators in attendance and summarized that in recent years they had tried to bring the concerns and wishes of the taxi industry to politics in a sober and factual manner. Now it was time to speak without a filter. For, as Kollar said, it is burning fiercely. Many taxi operators were fighting for their operation—and these were often small entrepreneurs who had to support their families. BVTM has, for many years, pointed out the legal breaches by platform operators, and one can see how courts have acted against the practices of Uber and Co. However, politics does not react. The PBefG does indeed need to be improved in some areas, but it already provides ways to curb the runaway proliferation of platform operators.

Tino Schopf as "a shining example"

Tino Schopf, a member of the Berlin House of Representatives, was—once mentioned—met with much applause. Kollar emphasized that the officials in the municipalities would often withdraw from responsibility. Tino Schopf had shown how it works: You have to nag the competent authorities long enough until they take action.

The Association of German Cities highlights difficulties

Thomas Kiel d’Aragon of the German Association of Cities explained that, in his view, the problems with implementing the PBefG were foreseeable. The federal government had passed the law; the municipalities are entrusted with the role of the "watcher." It was a mistake not to establish a dedicated registration procedure for platform operators that run taxi-like ride-hailing traffic. In this way the platform operators tried to talk themselves out of being only the broker of a ride, not the transporter. It is also problematic that the authorization of a rental-car operation does not have to take place where the ride is driven. This is known, for example, from Berlin and Brandenburg.

Plea for the – failed – Kleine Fachkunde

Besorgniserregend nannte Kiel d’Aragon die jüngste Entscheidung, auf die Kleine Fachkunde zu verzichten. Der Städtetag halte eine Taxifahrer-Prüfung für unbedingt notwendig, um die Qualität der Taxi-Branche zu sichern. Es könne doch nicht sein, dass ein Fahrer, der Güter fahre, eine Prüfung ablegen müsse, wer aber Personen fahre, ohne Prüfung ans Steuer gelassen werde.

Michael Oppermann and the three parliamentarians

The managing director of BVTM, Michael Oppermann, chaired the round with the politicians. Michael Donth is certainly best known to the participants, as he has been accompanying the taxi trade for years in numerous discussion rounds. According to his words, the difficult economic situation is not only a problem for taxi operators; the general economic situation also poses major challenges for other industries. The PBefG is, after all, a compromise law. Now we must await the evaluation and can then adjust it if necessary. He asks for civility in dealing with one another, because he has been fighting for the taxi trade for years anyway.

Stefan Zierke shifted the focus to the situation in rural areas. He had been elected to the Bundestag for the Uckermark, where the troubles of the taxi industry are different from those in a big city like Berlin. There are simply many areas in rural regions where no taxi would come anymore.

Moreover, he is a businessman – for him the best solution would be if there were no legal regulations necessary, if the "business handshake" sufficed. He finds it absurd that everywhere calls for new regulations when the general goal is to reduce bureaucracy.

That is different in Rosenheim – fortunately. According to Victoria Broßart, the networking between public transport and taxis in the Upper Bavarian city with 60,000 inhabitants is very good. In general, she is an enthusiastic taxi customer. For her, the taxi is an essential part of public transport, and it is time to finally clean up social dumping and the poor working conditions at the platform operators.