Taxi vs. Uber & Bolt: Taxi industry unites forces in the fight against platforms

Uber and Bolt are increasingly expanding. Initially, the platform operators were primarily active in the metropolises, but now they are increasingly expanding their "hunting ground" to smaller cities. Originally, the managing director of the State Association of Bavarian Taxi and Rental Car Companies (LVBTM), Christian Linz, wanted to promote the exchange of experiences among Bavarian cities "with around one hundred thousand inhabitants." However, Linz was literally overwhelmed by the interest from all over Germany in the network for the fight against the platform operators.

The meeting point was the Aufseesianum in Bamberg, a boarding school led by the sister of the managing director of the LVBTM. Although the event was organized by the Bavarian State Association, it was fortunately also open to representatives from other associations. Thus, representatives from 25-30 taxi dispatch centers, taxi operators, and even Alexander Mönch from Freenow sat together in the completely filled seminar room.

The day was opened by Christian Linz, who emphasized that after initial reluctance, so many requests to participate in the event were received in recent days that they were even forced to turn down some interested parties.

What's happening in Nuremberg?

Taxi entrepreneur Linz first described the current situation in Nuremberg, which, with about 1 million inhabitants, is a very economically strong metropolitan region in Germany. Before the entry of the platform operators, Nuremberg had been something of an "island of the blessed" with about 1 taxi per 1,000 inhabitants. In 2023, Bolt entered the market. At the same time, a company called "Mars Holding" wanted to shake up the Nuremberg taxi market with 150 vehicles. Then, in December 2024, Uber also started. Both platform operators are currently finding it difficult to recruit the necessary driving personnel.

Minimum fare and tariff corridor

Starting May 1, a tariff corridor is planned in Nuremberg. According to lawyer Thomas Grätz, this would take longer but is a "milder measure" against the platform operators. However, he believes that this way is more legally secure. Nuremberg will take the cities of Munich and Augsburg as models. Since the Leipzig ruling generally permits minimum prices and tariff corridors and only had some issues with the city's pricing policy, the following tariff corridor has been established: The model sees the taxi tariff as the lower limit (virtually 0 percent surcharge), and the upper limit is then 30 percent above the tariff.

Christian Linz explained that the tariff calculation took into account the waiting time a taxi usually has. He assumes an average waiting time of about 10 percent of the shift. Thus, the adjusted tariff corridor is adjusted between -10 percent and 20 percent. Actually, Linz says, the rental car with the 19 percent VAT should always be more expensive compared to the taxi.

"It is indispensable not to argue with the protection of the taxi industry. It is more effective to point out that the measure protects public transport and prevents social dumping," added Thomas Grätz.

Importance of Local Identification

It's urgent to check and question the local identification of rental vehicles. In Nuremberg, for example, a vehicle was registered in the city of Nuremberg and deregistered again after three months. The entrepreneur then reserved the license plate and re-registered the vehicle in Fürth with Nuremberg license plates. In this way, the vehicle can of course “poach” unnoticed in the Nuremberg area.

Action Instructions from LVBTM

The Bavarian Association of Taxi and Rental Car Entrepreneurs has created a recommendation for dealing with irregularly operating app agents. This can be requested from the association upon request. According to Christian Linz, by infiltrating drivers into the platform operators, a more precise overview of the machinations of Uber & Co. was obtained. This is also why it is important to support politics and the respective administrations with information.

“Participate in meetings of city councils or municipal councils in municipalities or cities. They often have a regulars' table. Go there, then they will know your concerns later on during decision making,” recommended Erlangen taxi entrepreneur Donald Dickau.

The Importance of “Leipzig”

According to lawyer Thomas Grätz, the main significance of the Leipzig Administrative Court ruling is not necessarily that fare corridors and minimum fees are fundamentally lawful. Rather, it is now possible for the first time to take preventive action - you don’t have to wait until the situation is completely tangled.

“If one of the pillars of public transport falls, the entire public transport system suffers – and with it the users of public transport,” explained Grätz.

A pillar in this case is the taxi industry. In webinars, efforts are now very active to provide authorities with the necessary information to take action against Uber & Co.

“Sin City” Berlin

Güven Aktas from the Berlin Taxi Guild took the floor. According to Aktas, this is where the head of the snake is. For a long time in the capital, there was a problem that the authorities either turned a blind eye or were not knowledgeable.

“We fought for 4 to 6 years, you have to soften up the politicians,” said Aktas.

Now, however, with the new Transport Senator Ute Bonde and above all the Deputy Tino Schopf, there are two strong allies on side. After the allocation of taxi licenses in Berlin virtually came to a standstill, many inquiries were made in the Berlin surrounding area. But here too, efforts are underway to “bring on board” the suburban municipalities.

Herman Waldner, Vice President of the Federal Association of Taxi and Rental Cars (BVTM), advocated for more cooperation among taxi entrepreneurs. Through the measures taken in Berlin, the situation is moving towards a “level playing field” – a fair competition between taxi and rental cars is finally possible again.

Here, Waldner also sees the opportunity for the taxi industry. For example, he has significantly streamlined taxi dispatching through the use of AI. Waldner invests the saved money in advertising for his taxi center.

“Take advantage of the opportunities that arise. Thanks to advertising, I notice a significant increase in rides,” Waldner advocated.