Hungary's taxi drivers hold warning demonstration to protest Uber

Hungarian taxi drivers held a warning demonstration in Budapest on Tuesday to protest services offered by Uber passenger transport company and others they say are illegal.

The organizers say 300 taxis were involved. The Hungarian National Taxi Drivers' Association argues that taxi driver incomes have steadily deteriorated since Uber appeared on the scene some six months ago and is asking the government to use the law to halt what it calls unlawful passenger transport, and the people commissioning it.

Janos Fonagy, Hungarian parliamentary state secretary at the Ministry of National Development accepted a petition from the National Association of Private Forwarders. He said that the issue was being discussed by the government and that a new law was being considered. The cabinet planned to debate it on Wednesday, he added.

According to Wikipedia, Uber is an American international transportation network company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It develops, markets, and operates the Uber mobile app, which allows consumers to submit a trip request which is then routed to sharing economy drivers. As of May 28, 2015, the service was available in 58 countries and 300 cities worldwide. Since Uber's launch, several other companies have emulated its business model, a trend that has come to be referred to as "Uberification."

Uber first appeared in Budapest in November 2014. Uber uses private vehicles and part-time drivers. Endite