Minimum prices and a licensing freeze: demands addressed to Berlin policymakers

The taxi industry warns of ruinous competition and urges swift action. Minimum fares for private hire vehicles and a monitoring period are intended to reorganize market conditions in the capital.

Video conference of the German Taxi and Private Hire Association (BVTM) with Tino Schopf (SPD) on the current challenges facing Berlin’s taxi industry. Top left: Michael Oppermann (Managing Director), top right: Tino Schopf (SPD), bottom left: Hermann Waldner (Vice President), bottom right: Dominik Pinho Veloso Eggers (Policy Officer). | Photo: BVTM
Video conference of the German Taxi and Private Hire Association (BVTM) with Tino Schopf (SPD) on the current challenges facing Berlin’s taxi industry. Top left: Michael Oppermann (Managing Director), top right: Tino Schopf (SPD), bottom left: Hermann Waldner (Vice President), bottom right: Dominik Pinho Veloso Eggers (Policy Officer). | Photo: BVTM

The Bundesverband Taxi und Mietwagen e.V. exchanged views with SPD lawmaker Tino Schopf on current challenges facing Berlin’s taxi industry. Schopf, the transport policy spokesperson for his parliamentary group in the Berlin House of Representatives, took up key demands of the sector.

Minimum prices for private hire vehicles

At the heart of the discussion was the introduction of minimum prices for private hire vehicles. The association sees this as a prerequisite for ensuring fair competitive conditions between taxis and private hire vehicles in the capital.

Monitoring period for taxi licenses

Another point of discussion was the idea of a time-limited monitoring period for the Berlin taxi market. The background is several thousand pending applications for taxi licenses, while the market has not been subject to quotas to date. In view of the already strained economic situation of many taxi companies, the association warns against an additional burden from a significant increase in the number of vehicles.

Outlook

The federal association announced that it would continue its dialogue with policymakers and the administration. The goal is to put concrete regulations in place promptly. In the association’s view, decisions on minimum prices should be made within the current year.

Hermann Waldner, Vice President of the federal association, stated: “We know that we have strong backing in Berlin’s politics and administration, from the Governing Mayor to the Senator for Transport and all the way to the back benches of the governing coalition’s parliamentary groups. But time is also running out for us. Minimum prices in Berlin must be decided this year, otherwise all the successes of LaBo and the Senate will be undone again.”

(Source: BVTM)

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