Taxi Drivers Protests Eesult in Uber Getting More Clients

Taxi drivers protests against unfair competition in the market of city transport took place at the beginning of June in several Polish cities. They called for the government to regulate the legal issues related to the transport of people so that the competition would operate on equal terms.

One of the biggest adversaries of regular taxi corporations is Uber. As Zbigniew Wrona from the Poznań Association of Taxi Drivers explained, Uber drivers do not fall under the same requirements as ordinary taxi drivers, e.g. they are not controlled by the road transport inspectorate. Taxi drivers also highlight the obligation to have fiscal cash registers, psychometric tests and licences, which other carriers do not have.

According to Uber, accused of unfair competition, „on the market, there is place for coexistence of both solutions”. In Poland, there are already one million users of the app. Uber highlights the fact that every passenger can choose the means of transport depending on their needs and preferences.

It should also be noted that passengers themselves seem not to be interested in the issues of drivers having appropriate licences. They value, however, the friendly atmosphere of Uber drivers and more comfortable and newer cars.

Office of Competition and Consumer Protection informed that it monitors and analyses the impact of the appearance of platforms matching drivers and passengers on the market, and there have been no infringements that would call for intervention with regard to both the protection of consumer interests and competition.

It appears, however, that the form of the protest was so troublesome to the potential taxi clients, that its effect was the opposite of what was intended – the beneficiary of the protest against Uber was… Uber. According to SentiOne, an online monitoring company, internet users’ reactions to the protest were negative. There was one opinion in favour of the tax drivers’ claims for each three negative ones.

The users of taxi transport decided to “punish” corporations by using Uber services. As Kacper Winiarczyk, head director of Uber Poland, says, since the protest the company has recorded a growth bigger than usual. It seems that tax drivers’ protests caused them only losses.