By Andrew Ede
On Uber's first day in Mallorca, it was claimed that 25 taxi drivers had requested documentation to register.
Uber said that this documentation will be reviewed to see if applicants meet requirements and that it expects more taxi drivers to apply, noting that drivers could increase their monthly incomes by as much as three times. Taxi representatives questioned this, saying that the general feeling is to stand against Uber in order to prevent the negative impact that the service will have on taxi transport.
Biel Moragues of the association of self-employed taxi drivers maintained that Uber had failed to comply with the regulation of a minimum of thirty minutes prior booking. He therefore demanded immediate action by the ministry of mobility. Adopting something of a change of tune to what was said on Wednesday, Moragues insisted: "The government and Palma town hall must control Uber's activity in order to avoid problems with the taxi sector. We are not ruling out mobilisations on all the islands if the situation so requires. Everything is in the hands of the acting regional executive, but if we do not see concrete results from the inspection service, we will not discount stoppages, despite being in the middle of the tourist season."
His counterpart at the CAEB taxi association, Antoni Bauzá, said that its members will not take any kind of mobilisation but stressed that controls by the inspection service must be strict. He was critical of Uber's pricing policy: "At the moment they have high prices so as not to have problems with taxi drivers, but in the short term the strategy will change and compete directly through lower prices." Emphasising the seriousness of the situation, Bauzá added: "We have time to avoid a situation that could get out of control if the authorities are not diligent in their inspections."
Meanwhile, the Cabify service said that it would not be making any statements regarding its possible arrival in the Balearics, but admitted that this is in a study phase while all regulations at the regional level are being clarified.
Representatives from the taxi sector are due to meet on Friday and discuss a common strategy in response to the start of the Uber service.
June 9, 2023 at 10:55AM
via Mallorca Daily Bulletin read more...
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