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Latvian taxi drivers object to legalization of ridesharing service

Xinhua, November 22, 2016 Adjust font size:

Taxi drivers in Latvia warned on Monday that they will stage protests if lawmakers go ahead with their plan to adopt legislation that would make ridesharing services like Uber legal in the Baltic country, Latvian public television reported on Monday.

The proposed legislation would allow any car owner without a criminal record to officially register and earn extra income by working as taxi drivers in their spare time within the limits of their city.

Passengers, meanwhile, will use a mobile app to call the nearest and most convenient cab.

The taxi drivers, however, claim that the new service, which is already being provided by Taxify firm in Riga, creates unfair competition, because a number of requirements they are expected to meet would not apply to the providers of ridesharing services.

A taxi driver's license, which is mandatory for the providers of conventional taxi services, is only one such requirement.

Raimonds Avdejevs, the head of the Latvian taxi companies' organization, said that roadworthiness standards for the providers of ridesharing service would be less strict and that the alternative system would facilitate tax avoidance.

Meanwhile, supporters of the ridesharing idea argue that this is a 21st century service and that it needs official regulation. They also claim that some 80 percent of the taxi industry already operates as grey businesses.

The taxi drivers, however, insist that the legalization of the ridesharing service has to be stopped, threatening to resort of all legal forms of protest if their demands are not met. Endit