Taxi Driver Online

Court victory for French online minicab operators


An attempt by France’s government to placate taxi drivers angered by a threat to their monopoly by making users of private minicabs wait 15 minutes for their ride, has been thrown out by the country’s highest administrative court.

The suspension of the 15-minute rule by the State Council marks an important victory for online minicab booking services in one of the most fiercely fought battles over market reforms in France.

François Hollande’s administration has allowed the growth of private minicab companies but, under furious protest from traditional licensed taxis, it issued a decree in December forcing those reserving cars online or by phone to wait a minimum of 15 minutes before being picked up.

Licensed-taxi unions, which have bitterly opposed moves to open up the business to more competition, immediately called a demonstration in Paris for Monday to protest against the State Council’s decision.

The council said the decree was a “serious and immediate blow to the economic interests” of the private competitors and ran counter to “the principle of the freedom of commerce and industry”.

Partial liberalisation of the taxi market allowing the emergence of private minicab services has led to a surge in companies offering chauffeured cars, mostly via online applications.

In most cases they can supply a car within five minutes, infuriating operators of traditional licensed taxis, which have a monopoly on the right to pick up fares hailed on the street. Taxi unions have demanded an even longer pickup delay for their private competitors.

Companies such as Uber of the US and French rivals SnapCar and Allocab appealed to the State Council to overturn the decree. They have grown swiftly recently under the category of “tourist cars with chauffeurs”, or VTCs, created by the previous centre-right government to offer competition to street licensed taxis.

The VTCs say France has a big shortage of taxi services compared, for example, with the UK. There are only 55,000 licensed taxis in France, including close to 20,000 in Paris. The number of VTCs has grown to 12,400 countrywide – but that compares with about 40,000 “minicabs” in London alone.

The State Council said it would now consider whether to order a permanent lifting of the decree.

Last month, thousands of street licensed cabs jammed roads around Paris and other cities in protest at what they say is unfair competition from VTCs. Uber drivers and customers were physically attacked during the protest.

The traditional cab drivers complain that they have to pay up to €200,000 to acquire one of the restricted number of street taxi licences, while car owners pay a fraction of that for a VTC licence. The government is hesitant to issue more on-street licences because many taxi drivers rely on selling their licence to fund their retirement.

Yves Weisselberger, a founder of SnapCar, said he was delighted by the council decision. “The council has simply ruled that the (taxi) reservation market should be able to compete freely,” he said.

Government officials said they would study the ruling before deciding how to react.

source: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/260d22b0-8e68 ... z2sX0kcPUI

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

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IDFIMH

Strike! Strike! Strike!

Looks like more tailbacks

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

funny you should say that gus........


French taxi drivers blockade cities in protest at minicabs

Taxi drivers in Paris and Marseille have blocked traffic in a "go slow" to protest against their minicab rivals


Hundreds of taxi drivers blocked rush-hour traffic in Paris and Marseille on Monday to protest against what they say is unfair competition from unregulated cabs.

The second show of force by taxi drivers since the start of the year blocked roads from Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports into central Paris and paralysed traffic on two main arteries leading into Marseille.

The one-day strike was an angry response to a court ruling last week that threw out a government plan to restrict competition from private car services.

"We're not on a level playing field," said driver Karim Lalouani, who turned up at dawn at Charles de Gaulle airport to take part in the strike.

"It's like asking two boxers to go into the ring but you tie one of the boxer's hands behind his back."

Drivers on the protest waved their licences which cost about €200,000 euros (£170,000) and which the drivers of chauffeured cars do not have to buy.

Minicabs, known in France as tourist vehicles with chauffeur (VTCs), were only authorised in 2009 as an attempt to address chronic shortfalls in the availability of taxis – particularly in Paris, the most visited city in the world.

VTCs have to be booked in advance and are not allowed to pick up passengers who hail them in the street.

Taxi drivers complain that they are increasingly flouting the rules and stealing their business without having to respect the costly regulations imposed on taxis.

President Francois Hollande's Socialist government responded to the taxi drivers' complaints in December by issuing a decree which required the unlicensed cars to wait 15 minutes between logging a reservation and picking up passengers.

But last week France's highest administrative court struck down that provision, infuriating taxi drivers who say that even with the 15-minute delay they were losing out.

They are calling for a delay of 30 minutes and a minimum fare of €60 for VTCs.

The European Commission has long pressed for France to open its many protected professions to greater variety and competition, citing excessively high barriers to entry for taxi drivers as one area especially ripe for deregulation.

source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... icabs.html

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

They are acting like many of the cab unions/reps over here.

Braindead.

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IDFIMH

Is this so they can create a 'level playing field'

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

how about a 7 day pre-booking rule?

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

French taxi drivers to continue strike



A debate involving French taxis was far from resolved on Tuesday in what unions say is unfair competition posed by a surge in popularity of private chauffeured cars, also known as tourist vehicules with chauffeur (VTCs).

After a strike disrupted traffic on Monday, the government named an official mediator Tuesday in the ongoing transportation drama.

Thomas Thévenoud, Socialist deputy from Saône-et-Loire, has been given two months to seek an agreement between the two camps.

Meanwhile, the unappeased union called for the strikes to continue until the government stops licensing VTCs altogether. A new day of strikes has been scheduled for March 13.

Differences in regulation

Would-be taxi drivers face exorbitant fees ahead of receiving an operating license, often running into the hundreds of thousands.

“I paid 235,000 euros for my taxi license and must conform to a series of strict regulations,” Philippe Morival, a 30-year cab driver veteran, told AFP on Monday. “VTC drivers, by contrast, can rent their cars from abroad and don’t answer to anyone.”

“Today, we are facing direct competition from VTCs that work virtually without regulation,” taxi union member Karim Lalouani concurred. “We are not fighting on equal terms. It’s like asking two boxers to enter the ring, but one has both hands tied behind his back.”

Previous decrees

In a bid to assuage the mounting discontent from taxi drivers, the French state in late December imposed a mandatory 15-minute delay between customer booking and pick-up for VTCs in a bid to give taxis an edge. But the Council of State suspended the decree earlier this month, saying it was a “serious and immediate infringement on the economic interests” of VTC firms.

The government on Saturday announced another attempt to find some common ground, saying it had established a commission to ensure “sustainable and balanced competition” between the taxis and the VTCs.

But many of those affected remain unconvinced.

“The commission is a gimmick,” said Michel Charbonnier, a 15-year taxi veteran.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

http://www.france24.com/en/20140211-fre ... ue-strike/

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

_________________

http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

Wait till AL take over Paris...

I heard of another chap who once took over Paris, the chap beside him was hailing a cab tho

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

wouldnt that be TVC?

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

Ah but those Frenchies always put the words the wrong way around. It would be more like Vehecule Touriste avec Chauffeur.

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Grandad,

Angry Paris cabbies vow to keep up strike pressure



Paris (AFP) - Paris taxi drivers vowed Wednesday to push on with strikes that caused logjams on city streets and at airports, despite the damage done to their already questionable reputation.

Paris taxis have been carrying out strikes since Monday in protest over the growing use of minicabs, which they say are cutting into their business.

Taxi drivers in France have long been protected by strict licensing limits that cause much grumbling among Paris residents over a dearth of available cabs and sometimes dubious customer service.

The minicabs, known in France as tourist vehicles with chauffeur (VTCs), were introduced in 2009 as an attempt to address the chronic shortfalls of taxis, particularly in Paris, the most visited city in the world.

Unlike regular taxis, they must be booked in advance and do not have the right to pick up passengers who hail them in the street.

Some 12,400 vehicles were operating as VTCs by the end of 2013, and the furious cabbies are demanding that no more be granted licenses and that stronger limits be placed on their use.

Taxi unions have called for an "indefinite strike" until the government agrees to stop issuing new registrations for VTCs.

Nordine Dahmane, the head of the FO-Taxis union, warned that drivers were ready to take action "everywhere and anywhere".

On Wednesday, some 120 taxis were blocking pick-up spots at Orly airport south of Paris and a convoy was slowing traffic from Charles de Gaulle airport north of the capital.

A protest late Tuesday at the iconic Place de la Concorde in central Paris saw 64 taxi drivers arrested for blocking traffic, but they were released without charge.

About 200 protesting drivers had gathered at Place de la Concorde and overnight the same number had protested at the nearby Place de la Madeleine.

Hoping to head off further chaos, President Francois Hollande's government on Tuesday named Socialist lawmaker Thomas Thevenoud as a mediator.

On Wednesday he appealed for calm, saying the message from taxi drivers "has been heard loud and clear".

"I call on everyone to gather around the table with me, to talk, to listen, to compromise and to find a new system," he told BFM-TV.

Thevenoud has been mandated to come up with a system of "balanced competition" between taxi drivers and VTCs within two months.

Licenses are granted by the government for free, but in limited numbers, and are sold amongst drivers for around 230,000 euros ($315,000).

The license to operate a VTC costs only 100 euros.

"I was in debt for 10 years to pay for my licence," Thierry Touati, a taxi driver for nearly two decades, told AFP in central Paris.

"The VTCs are tapping directly into our customers. The government should buy back our licenses so that everyone is equal," he said.

"We're moaners because our jobs are stressful!" Touati added when asked about the potential damage to the reputation of cabbies.

The government responded to the taxi drivers' complaints in December by issuing a decree restricting mini-cabs from picking up passengers within 15 minutes of a reservation being made.

But the measure was suspended last week by the Council of State pending a ruling on whether it is in the public interest.

The taxi unions are calling for VTCs to be limited by a 30-minute delay and a minimum fare of 60 euros -- which would effectively close them out of the market for trips within central Paris.

There are some 55,000 taxis registered in France, including 20,000 on the streets of Paris, compared with about 22,600 licensed taxis and 50,700 minicabs in London.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/214329 ... -pressure/

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

You couldn't make it up.

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Grandad,