Radio România Internațional

Tag: taxi drivers

  • Taxi drivers’ protests

    Taxi drivers’ protests


    A few hundred taxi drivers protested on Wednesday in downtown Bucharest, in a protest action organized by the Bucharest-Ilfov Association of Taxi Drivers. Joining them were drivers from other cities, who are disgruntled with a number of legislative changes regarding taxi transport and alternative means of transportation. Taxi drivers also protested the unfair competition coming from alternative transport platforms and want the said companies to abide by the same regulations, which would ensure fair competition and equitable work conditions in this sector.




    “Theres just too many Uber and Bolt drivers. They should limit them to 1 per 1,000 inhabitants, compared to taxi drivers, who operate at a 4 per thousand ratio. They should pay the same taxes as we do, and own their own cars, stop using rentals and pay their dues. The 25% tax they pay in the Netherlands should be paid in Romania and they too should be considered employees like the rest of us, have standard employment agreements. They should pay their contributions like the rest of us. All we want is a new regulation in that respect”, one taxi driver said.




    On the day of the protest, taxi drivers said they would continue their protest indefinitely unless their demands are met within 30 days. On Wednesday, however, taxi drivers met with the authorities to discuss their terms, which government representatives agreed to. Hence taxi drivers have decided to suspend their protest. The Bucharest-Ilfov Association of Taxi Drivers want the government to enact a 2019 piece of legislation on the taxation of taxi rides and tips via a fiscal entity registered with the National Trade Registry, by suspending the technical permit until the law takes effect. Another demand was limiting the number of specimens based on criteria similar to those applied to taxi driving, which would help improve quality of life and air quality, ease traffic and curb pollution in large cities. Taxi drivers also want the authorities to eliminate the possibility of issuing specimens for vehicles owned by transport operators who use car rentals or free loan agreements, to raise the limit for certification to the E6 emission standard, to ban car wrapping and the display of ads for digital platforms. Referring to taxi drivers protests, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu expressed concern with citizens best interests and the principle of competitiveness. “We must ensure fair competition, without exceptions”, the Prime Minister said, adding that Romanian legislation should be aligned to relevant laws elsewhere in the EU. (VP)








  • February 13, 2019

    February 13, 2019

    Budget — The draft budget law and the draft national insurance budget law for 2019 started being debated Wednesday in the plenum of Parliament. They received the favorable approval in the Parliament’s expert committees. In a 17-hour meeting, MPs approved the funds allotted to the main authorizing officers and the projects that will benefit from funding in 2019. As compared to the form proposed by the Government, cuts were operated on the budgets for the Finance Ministry, the Romanian Intelligence Service and the Security and Protection Service. The Education and Transport ministries received more money for investments. The budget is based on a 5.5% economic growth rate, a budget deficit of 2.5% and a GDP of more than 200 billion Euros.



    ECB — The European Central Bank officials reminded the Romanian authorities, in a letter sent to finance minister Eugen Teodorovici, that they should have consulted with the European institution before adopting the emergency ordinance that provides for the introduction of a tax on bank assets. According to European legislation, the national authorities are bound to consult with the ECB officials in relation to any draft law that is in the institution’s domain of competence, among which laws applicable to financial institutions, to the extent to which they significantly influence the stability of financial institutions and markets. The European institution claims the emergency ordinance was not accompanied by an assessment of its impact on the banking sector, and in the absence of such a document, there is the risk for the tax to impact the stability of the banking system. Recently other international financial institutions have also sent letters to the Romanian government in relation to the aforementioned tax, in which they expressed their concern with the new plans targeting the banking system.



    Protests — Hundreds of taxi drivers are protesting today in front of the government headquarters in Bucharest against the alternative services offered by means of online platforms which they consider unfair competition. They are calling on the government to come up with clear and strict legislation in the field that should oblige car-sharing service providers to observe the regulations on passenger transportation. Similar protests are taking place in other cities of Romania. The Confederation of Authorized Operators and Transporters in Romania threaten to stage a large-scale protest rally on February 27 and 28, if the taxi drivers’ claims are not met. The Confederation threatens to block the city of Bucharest with buses, minibuses and taxis brought from the entire country.



    World Radio Day — ‘Dialogue, tolerance and peace’ is the theme of this year’s World Radio Day which is marked on February 13. The event is meant to promote international cooperation among broadcasters and to encourage access to information by means of radio stations. World Radio Day was set up in 2011 at the 36th UNESCO conference. On February 13, 1946 the first broadcast of the UNESCO radio station was aired. For Radio Romania, World Radio Day 2019 is celebrated in the context in which the institution is one of the official broadcasters of the Romanian presidency of the Council of the EU.



    Tennis — The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, top seeded and world’s no. 3 player, is taking on today the Ukrainian Lesia Ţurenko (24 WTA) in the eighth finals of the WTA tournament in Doha, Qatar. The tournament has prizes up for grabs worth around 900 thousand dollars. Simona Halep has won all the previous 5 matches against Ţurenko, her latest win being in 2018 in the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati tournament. Mihaela Buzarnescu was eliminated on Tuesday in Doha by Latvian Jelena Ostapenko. (translation by L. Simion)

  • Protests by transporters in Romania

    Protests by transporters in Romania

    The taxi drivers’ protest on Tuesday disrupted traffic in downtown Bucharest, after tens of cars were parked right in front of the Government headquarters. Taxi drivers are discontent about what they call the unfair competition of the Uber affiliated drivers, who, in their opinion, are functioning illegally as they do not hold a transport licence.



    A day before, the Bucharest City Hall had made public its intention to change taxi regulations in the capital city, and all companies operating in the field should have a licence, Uber included. After talks with the line authorities at the government headquarters, representatives of the Confederation of Authorised Operators and Transporters in Romania, COTAR, haven’t managed to obtain a clear promise from the Government that taxi- laws will be amended, so that those carrying out transport activities without having a licence be sanctioned by the law.



    Taxi drivers say they do not give up the idea of organising protests and even think of new forms of protest, the President of COTAR, Vasile Ştefănescu, says: ”With all due respect, we all have four-wheeled cars and know what we have to do. We also have authorisations, although we might not get new ones, we have ring roads, we have everything is needed in the country, too, to get on the move. So, we will see if we choose to stay indoors, everyone in his home, as the holidays are approaching not only for the Government but also for us. You should know the situation is very serious, as the illicit transport of persons gains ground at a fast pace. It exceeds our capacities, at the moment. If we are 110 thousand transporters of persons – taxi and transport of persons by coaches according to a timetable, there are some 140 thousand unlicensed transporters. There are 10,000 such transporters in Bucharest alone, and they are affiliated to Uber.”



    Representatives of the aforementioned firm take a defensive stand saying they provide IT services and the affiliated drivers are Authorised Natural Persons who can conduct commercial activity and furthermore, they pay taxes. Such conflicts are registered in several countries and the issue reached the European Court of Justice, which ruled that Uber is a transport service. The Court underlined that the platform, which connects amateur drivers who use their own cars to persons willing to travel within a town or a city, is not a digital service.



    Consequently, under the current legislation, the decision on how to regulate this type of services belongs to the Member States. This company has been present in Romania for three years and has over 450,000 users, of which 350,000 in Bucharest alone. Romania is the second largest market in Central and Eastern Europe, after Poland, and the fifth largest in the European Union.