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BVTM on the PBefG debate: Further develop the legal framework rather than repeating old debates.
The debate about the future of the Passenger Transport Act is gaining momentum again. While individual actors demand fundamental changes or a far-reaching deregulation of the rental car market, the Federal Association of Taxi and Rental Cars adopts a different approach. From the association's point of view, the experiences of the past five years should be used to make existing regulations more effective – and not to reopen the political disputes surrounding the reform of 2021.
“We must effectively continue to develop the legal framework, rather than repeat the debates of the past,” says Michael Oppermann, Managing Director of the Federal Association of Taxi and Rental Cars. “In 2021 the legislature created important instruments. Now we see where they work in practice and where tightening is needed. Exactly there, a reform should start.”
Thus, the association positions itself against calls to abolish central regulations for taxi and rental-car transport. A mere loosening of existing requirements will not solve the challenges in the mobility market, the association argues.
Hold platforms more accountable
The association views the role of large digital intermediary platforms as particularly critical. Although these were expressly addressed for the first time in the PBefG amendment in the law. In practice, however, supervision continues to focus mainly on the companies that carry out the trips. Platforms now have substantial influence on the market. They broker trips, control access to customers, and shape price structures as well as business models.
“The platforms organize a substantial part of the market, but when it comes to regulatory responsibility they still get off lightly,” says Oppermann. “Whoever controls access to customers, brokers rides and scales business models cannot be treated regulatorily as if they were merely providing a digital bulletin board. A modern PBefG reform must bring responsibility to where market power is actually exercised today.”
From the association's point of view, reform should therefore focus less on taxi and rental-car companies and more on the players who are increasingly organizing the market digitally.
Minimum prices should be easier to implement
The association also sees a need for action regarding the minimum fare charges for rental cars. This option was already introduced with the 2021 reform. Municipalities can set minimum prices if public transport interests are at risk. In practice, however, implementation often proves difficult. Many authorities shy away from the substantial burden of justification or legal disputes. The Federal Association therefore proposes to define the legal prerequisites more clearly and to provide municipalities with concrete guidance in setting minimum charges.Initiatives from the platform economy to remove minimum prices from the law again are firmly rejected by the association.
“Whoever simply throws minimum prices back out of the toolbox before we have ensured that the instrument can be used sensibly everywhere, draws the completely wrong conclusion,” says Oppermann. “The question must be: How do we turn a good legal option into an instrument that actually works on the ground?”
Modernization, not rollback
For the federal association, the further development of the PBefG does not mean stagnation. Rather, the law must take into account new technological developments and changing customer needs. The association notes that more than 85 percent of taxis nationwide can already be ordered digitally. At the same time, it advocates nationwide uniform standards, for example in card payments or fixed-price offers. Autonomous vehicles are also regarded as part of future mobility. Robotaxis could, according to the association's view, indeed find their place in the market – provided they are subject to the same regulatory framework conditions as existing transport services.
“A reform is modern when it enables new mobility and at the same time organizes fair competition,” explains Oppermann. “For that, we do not need to go back to square one. We must use the experiences of the past five years: sharpen instruments, clarify responsibilities, empower municipalities to act, and finally hold platforms properly to account. That would be a real advancement of the PBefG.”
Blick auf die Evaluierung
The discussion is entering a phase in which the effects of the PBefG amendment of 2021 are increasingly being evaluated. For many industry representatives, the upcoming evaluation will be the decisive stress test. It is not only about minimum prices or platform regulation, but about the fundamental question of how fair competition between taxi, rental cars and digital booking platforms can be organized in the future. The Federal Association Taxi and Mietwagen relies on targeted corrections rather than a complete restart. In the association's view, the challenge is not to invent new instruments, but to finally shape the existing ones so that they actually have an effect on the ground.
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