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An Evening of Uproar — Berlin's Taxi Trade Fights for Order and a Future
The evening begins with thanks and ends with a few promises. In between lies a conversation about order, competition and the question of who owns the street. In the hall sit taxi operators with Hermann Waldner from Taxi Berlin and Taxi One, the SPD’s top candidate for the Berlin House of Representatives election 2026, Steffen Krach, as well as the SPD member of the Berlin state parliament Tino Schopf.
Waldner opens with a sentence that sounds like a self-affirmation: Good taxi policy has nothing to do with party colors. In Hamburg, a red-green government shows that regulation can work. In Berlin, by contrast, the number of taxi licenses had temporarily risen sharply. Today there are around 6,400 licenses; in the past one to two years another roughly 1,400 vehicles had been added. At the same time, more than 3,000 applications for further licenses were pending.
Turnover in Berlin isn’t really enough to survive
The core of the problem, says Waldner, lies deeper. The average hourly revenue of a taxi in operation has fallen to under 20 euros, sometimes even below. It is not economically viable. To cover the minimum wage and operating costs, it would take more like 30 euros per hour. Yet new providers were pushing into the market. Waldner speaks of “mafia-like structures,” of companies that operated for two years, underpaid or did not pay fees and then disappeared. Especially in the rental-car sector this model had been widespread.
Berlin is currently not issuing new taxi concessions, according to Waldner. However, operators are shifting to the surrounding districts. There, there are no limits. Companies with 40 concessions would be approved, even though they earned 99 percent of their revenue in Berlin. For the capital's mobility market, 5,000 to 6,000 taxis would be sufficient, Waldner says. The additional competition from rental-car-like traffic causes 3,000 to 4,000 vehicles too many on the road. If about 30 percent of the supply were to fall away, the hourly revenue could rise again toward 30 euros.
„Wir wünschen uns erstens Tino Schopf als den nächsten Mobilitäts-Senator. Und zweitens wieder rechtsstaatliche Verhältnisse im Berliner Mobilitätsgewerbe haben - und das heißt Kampf gegen die Schwarzarbeit!“, so Boto Töpfer, Vorstand Taxiverband Berlin Brandenburg
Schopf im Wahlkampfmodus
Schopf widerspricht nicht in der Sache, wohl aber in der politischen Zuschreibung. Schon in der vergangenen Legislaturperiode habe er als Abgeordneter auf Missstände hingewiesen. 2024 habe er öffentlich gemacht, dass die Stundenumsätze bei maximal 20 Euro lägen. Er habe eine Task Force gegen kriminelle Machenschaften im Mietwagengewerbe initiiert, eine Arbeitsgruppe gegen Schwarzarbeit angestoßen und darauf gedrängt, auch Brandenburger Behörden einzubinden. Dass viele Betriebe inzwischen ins Umland abwanderten, habe sich abgezeichnet.
Der Abgeordnete reklamiert für die SPD zentrale Schritte: zusätzliche Stellen beim LABO (Landesamt für Bürger- und Ordnungsangelegenheiten) zur strengeren Prüfung von Anträgen, ein im Parlament einstimmig beschlossener Antrag zur Einführung eines Mindestbeförderungsentgelts für Mietwagen. Nun sei der Senat am Zug. Dass die CDU diesem Instrument skeptisch gegenüberstehe, verschweigt er nicht. Deshalb habe die SPD das Mindestbeförderungsentgelt in ihr Wahlprogramm aufgenommen.
„Die Fortschritte in Berlin hat das Taxigewerbe der SPD zu verdanken – ganz sicher nicht einem Kai Wegner oder einer Ute Bonde“, echauffierte sich Schopf.
Krach comes across as well-informed
Krach emphasized that he did not want to pit road users against each other. Mobility must be thought of as a whole. At the same time, he acknowledges the economic concerns. Berlin has around 30 million tourist overnight stays; previously it was 35 million. Fewer trade fairs, fewer large events, lingering effects of the pandemic – all of this also affects taxis.
Rules must be enforced
Rule of law, says Krach, is a core problem. Germany often has good laws, but their enforcement lags behind. That undermines trust in the state and democracy. Whoever makes rules must also enforce them. He points to high sickness rates in the public service, to administrative processes that are still paper-based. Digitization could speed up procedures and make controls more efficient.
Support comes from the audience—and pressure. Representatives of the taxi association demand clear commitments: a more consistent fight against illegal work, the introduction of a minimum price for rental cars as soon as possible. Hamburg is named as an example repeatedly. There, controls work; there are hardly any criminal structures in the rental car sector; there, hourly revenues are significantly higher.
BVTM emphasizes Berlin's special role
Michael Oppermann of the Federal Association of Taxi and Hire Cars argues more fundamentally. In no city is the situation as tense as in Berlin. Platform providers had established a foothold here early. Berlin is a “must-win” market, attractive for international guests and a young audience. The rule of law should not apply only to individual taxi operators. Platforms must also be held responsible. The minimum fare for transportation is a central instrument for that.
“The minimum fare is the key,” emphasized Oppermann.
Waldner notes that the federal legislature in 2021 created the possibility to set minimum charges for rental cars as well. The aim is not a privilege for taxis, but fairer competition. The taxi is subject to fare binding and a transport obligation, part of the public service. Platform-based rental cars pursue a different business model, partly with financially strong investors in the background. If prices are systematically undercut, the regulated system would be destabilized.
"We have been operating the rail replacement service in Berlin for many years — reliable and quiet. We would like the taxi trade to be more involved in other areas of mobility as well," Waldner explained.
Minimum Transport Fare Is in the Party Program
Krach avoids quick promises. He does not want to pre-empt portfolio questions, of course. The minimum transport fare, however, is in the SPD program. Laws must be enforced. At the same time, he is counting on economic revival: more events, more confidence, a positive development after the crisis years. If people go out more often, travel, and consume, the demand for taxi rides would rise as well.
In the end, one image remains: the taxi as part of public infrastructure, as a reserve at night, as a reliable option when other systems do not work. And a political dispute that has long extended beyond the trade. It is about market and regulation, about platform economy and administrative capacity—and about the question whether the state is capable of enforcing the rules it sets. And Steffen Krach presented himself clearly as a partner for the taxi trade.
Content automatically translated.
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