Regulating alternative taxi services

A draft government emergency ordinance on alternative transportation has been put up for debates until June 3rd

Daniela Budu, 24.05.2019, 13:54

A draft government emergency
ordinance on regulating ridesharing activities in Romania has been put up for
public debates. After talks that lasted for several days, representatives of
alternative transport companies announced that on Thursday they reached an
agreement with government representatives concerning the emergency ordinance
draft on field applications in Romania.

The new regulations will assure
equal authorization conditions between alternative transportation applications
and taxi companies. Under the document, application owners will have to obtain permits
from the Communication Ministry, while partner drivers will have to comply with
technical and legal requirements similar to those of taxi drivers.

The permit becomes valid after the
operator has paid an authorization fee of 50,000 RON to the field ministry. The
operator will also have to obtain a permit for alternative transport from the
territorial agency of the Romanian Road Transport Authority in their residing
county or city.

Alternative transport permits are issued
for a period of 3 years after the alternative transport operator has paid a fee
of 300 Ron. The vehicles involved in this alternative transport activity must
meet several conditions also. They must have 5 seats at the most and the
periodical vehicle inspection (ITP) done every six months. These vehicles must
also meet the technical norms required by road traffic safety and environmental
protection. Drivers of these vehicles must be
ready to produce a copy of the alternative transportation permit and the
vehicles accepted by the digital platform must bear on their windshield a badge
with the vehicle’s registration number and the platform’s name.

The document also stipulates that
drivers unable to produce a copy of the permit will be subject to fines. Hundreds
of thousands of people have signed a petition for the emergency regulation of
ridesharing services in Romania. According to them the absence of these regulations
have caused thousand of drivers to lose their incomes while 2.5 million users
are either unable to find a vehicle or must pay extra prices for this service.

This emergency ordinance draft has
been issued after alternative transport companies called on the government to
regulate these services in order to be able to function properly in the future.
Taxi companies in Romania, which have so far attracted a lot of heat for the
poor services they offer, are blaming the ridesharing companies for functioning
illegally.

(translated by bill)