The rental car heads to the countryside – over 1,600 rental cars in the Teltow-Fläming district

In the Berlin-adjacent district of Teltow-Fläming, the number of licensed rental cars has multiplied severalfold within two years. At the end of 2023, there were 240 rental cars registered there, according to the Taxi and Rental Car Association Germany (TMV). By the end of 2025, it had already reached 1,357 vehicles. In the meantime, the number is said to have grown to more than 1,600. In parallel, the number of pure rental-car companies rose from 32 to 76 businesses. For TMV, this development is no ordinary market growth. The association sees this as the consequence of a problem that is increasingly relocating from Berlin to the surrounding area.

"We are witnessing in the Berlin surrounding area a blatant loss of control by the authorities at the expense of the honest taxi trade," says TMV President Thomas Kroker. "It is an administrative failure like no other when a fleet of well over 1,000 vehicles is managed for years by a single part-time employee and can operate virtually unchecked."

And how many rental cars are there in Berlin?

Notably, there has been a sharp decline in rental cars in Berlin compared to the previous year. Within twelve months, the number of licensed rental cars in the federal capital fell from 2,335 to 1,656 vehicles. That corresponds to a decrease of around 29 percent. At the same time, the number of companies decreased from 436 to 304. The decline is closely linked to the tightened LABO controls. Already in early 2025, Berlin authorities reported that numerous rental car companies had lost their licenses or vehicles were taken out of service. The number of rental cars had already fallen to around 2,900 vehicles at that time, after almost 4,500 vehicles had previously been registered.

The Escape from Scrutiny

While Berlin has significantly expanded its controls in the taxi rental sector in recent years, the surrounding districts are increasingly coming into the focus of platform companies and fleet operators. The permit is applied for outside Berlin, but the vehicles are driven predominantly within the capital. It is precisely at this point that the legal discussion begins. For taxis, under Section 49 of the Passenger Transportation Act, the so-called return obligation applies. After completing a ride order, the vehicles must generally return to their base of operation, unless there is already a new order.

This rule is widely circumvented. Vehicles remain permanently in the Berlin city area and effectively wait there like taxis for new orders. The situation is not new — what is new, however, are the enormous dimensions.

An Agency at the Limit

The TMV regards the staffing of the licensing authorities as particularly critical.

According to the association, the entire volume of applications in Teltow-Fläming during the boom years 2023 and 2024 was at times handled by a single part-time employee with 25 hours per week. At the same time, the number of approvals rose continuously. Apparently there was little room for intensive review of the companies. According to the association, in the entire year 2024 only four on-site inspections took place. The consequence was a substantial enforcement backlog.

„Through this absolute deficit in the inspections, a deeply unfair competition from platform-mediated rental cars is being state-tolerated, which massively threatens the existence of our regular taxi operations,“ says Kroker.

Indeed, public administration in many places faces a structural problem. Digitalization has facilitated the entry of new providers, while the staffing resources of the licensing authorities have often not grown at the same pace. Where previously several dozen concessions were managed, today—in some cases—hundreds of vehicles have to be monitored.