New regulations come into force in Poland today requiring ride-hailing companies such as Uber to obtain operator licences and to only hire specially licensed drivers.
The move follows complaints from taxi drivers, who have accused such services of operating illegally. It is likely to reduce the availability of rides, which may extend waiting times and raise prices.
Polish taxi drivers have in recent years staged protests against ride-hailing firms, accusing them of evading regulations. In 2018, over 1,000 taxi drivers deliberately clogged up the streets of Warsaw, with similar actions taking place last year, as they demanded action from the government.
Taxi drivers are protesting in Warsaw today against ride-hailing services such as Uber, which they say are illegal. Hundreds of cabs drove slowly through the streets, causing traffic jams. Some drivers attacked taxis that were not taking part in the strike https://t.co/spszTNnSfF
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) April 8, 2019
In response, the infrastructure ministry introduced a set of new traffic regulations at the start of 2020, with a transition period allowing ride-hailing companies and drivers to obtain licences. Due to the pandemic, the period was extended from three to nine months, ending in September.
The new regulation will mean that drivers now have to pay higher insurance for their cars, as well as installing additional equipment, including a taximeter, taxi lamps and special markings.
To ease the transition, obtaining licences has been made easier than was previously the case for taxis. Drivers will need to pass a medical examination and a vehicle check, but do not need to pass an exam on the topography of cities, reports Gazeta Wyborcza.
There is also now a requirement for there to be a cash register in the vehicle. The regulations allows for this to be virtual, in the form of a mobile application. However, these need to be certified by the Central Office of Measures (GUM).
At the moment, GUM has received only two such applications and has not yet approved either of them. As a result, as of today drivers may be caught out without a legal cash register, reports Gazeta Wyborcza.
Finally, the new regulations requires firms such as Uber and Bolt to obtain licences to serve as intermediaries in the provision of taxi-hailing services. A key condition is registering the company in Poland, which means paying taxes (CIT and VAT) locally.
Last year, the government accused Uber of not paying taxes in Poland. To this, the company responded that it actually paid 1.67 million zloty in taxes on its profits in 2017, which is “much more than key taxi companies”, reports money.pl.
Ride-hailing services Uber and Taxify are being investigated by Polish prosecutors over their compliance with tax and other obligations, including relating to employees' rights. The investigation was initiated at the request of taxi drivers' unions https://t.co/69cDj7ENcq
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) April 10, 2019
The new regulations are likely to mean that some drivers – such as those who drive passengers as a side job – will choose not to obtain licences and instead leave the market. This may lead to longer waiting times and higher fees for customers, writes Gazeta Wyborcza.
Andrzej Padziński, fleet director at iTaxi, says rides will become more expensive. “Until now, the driver providing passenger transport services did not bear the costs of higher liability insurance [and] adapting the car to licensed passenger transport,” he notes.
Now, according to Padziński, rides will have to cost at least 2.0-2.2 zloty per kilometre, representing a rise of 10-50% on the current cost of 1.1-1.8 zloty per kilometre (without surge pricing), reports money.pl.
Bolt has, however, sought to reassure customers. “We have been working for months now to ensure that both passengers and drivers do not feel the legislative change in their wallets,” said Łukasz Stachowiak, the company’s country manager.
Free Now, whose business model is already based on connecting customers with licensed taxis, believes that many drivers who manage to obtain licenses may switch to different apps, such as their own.
Since the start of the year, the company has tried to lure drivers away from its competitors by offering support in obtaining licences and lowering driver dues. In January, 1,000 drivers switched to Free Now, reports Telepolis.pl.
“It remains to be seen whether competing platforms – whose operating model relied on working only with unlicensed drivers – will undergo transformation,” the company wrote in a press release.
Many ride-hailing companies have already reported facing a diminished pool of drivers after some Ukrainians – who are Poland’s largest immigrant group – returned home at the start of the pandemic.
Main image credit: Tati Tata/Flickr (under CC BY-NC 2.0)
Maria Wilczek is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She is a regular writer for The Times, The Economist and Al Jazeera English, and has also featured in Foreign Policy, Politico Europe, The Spectator and Gazeta Wyborcza.
