Schreiner: Protect the cab industry from dubious competition

Transport Senator Manja Schreiner has announced that she wants to better protect the cab industry from ruinous competition. This applies in particular to unlicensed hire cars that can be booked via an app and operate as cheap cab competitors in Berlin. The CDU politician said in the House of Representatives on Thursday that she was aware of all kinds of dubious competition, from social security fraud to chain contracts, a lack of insurance and bogus limited liability companies to a lack of driving licenses.

The number of cab companies is falling significantly

The consequences of this are not only a risk for passengers and other road users, but also the exploitation of employees and considerable tax losses. The cab industry is under pressure: "In 2017/2018, we still had 8,200 companies in the cab industry, but we have now reached 5,500," said Schreiner, describing the development.

In contrast, there are now 4,500 legal hire cars across Berlin. "And an unknown number of unreported cases, somewhere between 1000 and 2000 more illegal rental cars." Schreiner therefore wants to introduce fixed prices in the cab industry instead of the usual kilometer prices. For cab customers, this would have the advantage of knowing the price before the journey - as is the case with rental car providers that can be booked on platforms such as Bolt or Uber.

Senate bill on fixed prices to be presented soon

Schreiner pointed to Munich, which already introduced fixed prices last fall, and Hamburg, where this is planned for late spring. The transport senator announced a corresponding Senate bill for Berlin for the current first quarter. "We will observe how this affects the market," she said. She already held out the prospect of a further step with regard to car rental providers: "Minimum prices could be considered in the summer or fall."

The transport committee of the House of Representatives had already dealt with the issue on Wednesday after RBB reported on it on Tuesday. Schreiner emphasized in the state parliament that she had already been aware of the phenomenon. "I have made the issue a top priority." She had long since sat down at a table with the cab associations. The measures now planned are the consequence of this.