International: Taxi-News from Greece

Nationwide taxi strike over several days in early December

At the beginning of December, Greek taxi drivers, with a two-day warning strike, disrupted traffic in large parts of the country. Only hospital trips were exempt. The strike organized by the Panhellenic Association of Taxi Drivers (POEIATA) took place on December 2 and 3 and was aimed at the government's new tax and legal regulations. The association justified the protests by what it saw as a threatened economic existence of the drivers, as well as growing competitive pressure from international ride-hailing platforms. Also criticized were the requirements for the mandatory switch to electric vehicles, whose deadline the taxi drivers want to extend to 2035.

Further demands included, among other things, higher tariffs and minimum prices, a fairer tax treatment, access to special lanes, as well as the implementation of pending regulations from a financing law. According to the association, all avenues for dialogue with the responsible ministries, especially the Ministry of Transport, have been exhausted, without any solution having yet been found to any of the serious problems affecting the daily life and survival of professional drivers. (December 2025, sources: news.gtp.gr/2025/11/25/greek-taxi-drivers-announce-48-hour-strike-for-december-2-3/
as well as en.parapolitika.gr/greece/106397/taxi-strike-december-2-3-48-hour-nationwide-shutdown-in-greece/, greekcitytimes.com/2025/09/09/athens-taxi-strike-hospital/)

If there is no result, the association has already announced that it will make comprehensive decisions about the continuation of the protests in an "organized and determined" manner. (December 2025, source: poeiata.gr/athina-03-12-2025-anakoinosi/)

Already at the beginning of November there was a 48-hour taxi strike in Athens, as well as in mid-September over 18 hours and in mid-April over 24 hours with similar demands. The trigger of the strike in September, for example, concerned the new government policy (Ride-Sharing Policy), which would allow private vehicles with drivers to operate professional passenger transportation, which from the taxi drivers' point of view mainly benefits the large ride-hailing platforms and weakens their own economic position. (Sources: https://news.gtp.gr/tag/taxi/, greekcitytimes.com/2025/09/10/athens-taxi-strike-ride-sharing-policy/)

Athens: Taxis to be equipped with defibrillators

In Athens, taxis will in the future also be equipped with automated external defibrillators (AEDs). The Ministry of Health is launching a program for this, in which taxi drivers can voluntarily participate. Participating drivers will receive training in first aid and in handling the devices. The defibrillators will be linked to a central emergency system that provides assistance in an emergency. The first accordingly equipped taxis with trained drivers are to begin operations in the coming weeks. In parallel, all Athens metro stations are to be equipped with defibrillators to improve medical first response in public transport overall. These measures are made possible by a donation from the Massoutis supermarket chain, coordinated by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport. (August 2025, Source: https://greekcitytimes.com/2025/08/28/athens-metro-taxis-defibrillators/)

Record: Greek taxi driver drives Mercedes-Benz 4.6 million kilometers

A taxi driver from Thessaloniki has reached an extraordinary mileage with his Mercedes-Benz 240D. Gregorios Sachinidis covered a total of 4.6 million kilometers with the vehicle, manufactured in 1976, and is thus regarded as the driver of the Mercedes-Benz with the highest documented mileage to date. Sachinidis had bought the car used in Germany in 1981; the odometer already showed 220,000 kilometers at that time. In the following 23 years he predominantly used the car as a taxi.

The trips took him not only through Thessaloniki, but also on numerous long-distance routes within Greece and to several neighboring countries, including Germany, Turkey, and Bulgaria. In 1993 he also used the car for humanitarian aid transports to the then war-torn Yugoslavia. When the vehicle was taken out of service in 2004, the distance traveled equated to 115 Earth circumnavigations. The Mercedes-Benz 240D has since been cited as an example of the model's longevity and the driver's long-term use. (August 2025, Source: greekcitytimes.com/2025/08/24/gregorios-sachinidis-mercedes-benz-record/)

Arrest: Two women pay taxi fare in Kalamata with counterfeit money

In Kalamata, two women aged 22 and 23 were arrested after paying for a taxi ride with a counterfeit 50-euro banknote. The taxi driver noticed the counterfeit money and alerted the police.