More than 1,000 taxis used as protest in front of Gov’t offices, traffic almost blocked in Victoriei Square

More than 1,000 taxis are stationed Wednesday morning in Victoriei Square, as taxi drivers protest against UBER/Taxify (Bolt). The rally is organized by the Confederation of Authorized Operators and Carriers in Romania (COTAR) and is scheduled to take place until 18.00h.

Development Minister Daniel Suciu announced recently that the emergency ordinance banning piracy in car transport, demanded by taxi drivers, will be published in the Official Gazette no later than Wednesday.

Major traffic problems are recorded on all the streets near the Victoriei Square area, the traffic is almost blocked, hotnews.ro informs.

“We demand the Government to drop out the GEO on legalizing piracy in road passenger transport and we do not understand why a Vice-Premier has assured the ‘pirates’ their problems will be solved by GEO and explains the need to legislate by emergency ordinances, saying the emergency comes from the fact that the President turns back the laws to Parliament for review. Development Minister Daniel Suciu made statements that he has managed the building of the legal framework to keep on the market the platforms which operate illegal, unauthorized and non-taxed transportation. Our protest is against such practices,” said COTAR-CNTR-Timis branch President in a release issued on Tuesday.

On March 29, the Government adopted an emergency ordinance to amend Law no.38/2003 regulating transport by taxi and leasing, eliminating the word ‘repeatedly’.

Wednesday morning, the Uber Romania officials have issued a release, expressing their will to cooperate.

“We want to cooperate with the taxi industry, as we do in other countries. In fact, many taxi drivers use our application. However, we would never agree with the employers who oppose technology and the consumers’ right to choose. We are confident that the Government will choose not to limit the ridesharing services, but to regulate them fairly, for the interest of millions of Romanians using these applications and who further want to have more transport options,” the release reads.

file photo