Fedetaxi encourages to expand the complaints against Cabify's parcel service

The Spanish Taxi Federation (Fedetaxi) has encouraged consumers and freight transport associations to, like them, expand their complaints in all instances against Cabify and against the commercial company Prestige & Limousine, the company with which the rental company of vehicles with driver (VTC) will send packages without a traveler in Madrid.

The vice president of Fedetaxi, Miguel Ruano, has indicated this Sunday in a statement that these "services are illegal" and unfair competition to freight carriers, the rest of VTC companies and taxi drivers, for which his organization has denounced him. before the Community of Madrid and the Ministry of Mobility, Transport and Urban Agenda.

The urban mobility company Cabify reported on Friday that it would cease to be an intermediary for sending packages without a traveler in Madrid and that this service will be carried out by another company from the same business group, the company Prestige and Limousine, which also belongs to the Maxi group. Mobility, without the digital platform acting as an intermediary, and the service will be renamed Envíos by PyL.

The Cabify Envíos service was launched in Madrid last week and was going to be implemented in other Spanish cities, but the association of transporters Fenadismer and the group of taxi drivers Fedetaxi warned that they would report to the Transport Inspection and the National Commission of Markets and the Competition (CNMC) the intrusion of Cabify in the transport of goods due to unfair competition.

The Community of Madrid requested Cabify on April 10 to immediately stop its new shipping service, with the warning of penalties of up to 6,000 euros, as it lacks authorization as a transport operator.

Fedetaxi has indicated that Cabify's "trick" does not work because VTCs cannot provide a freight service other than the luggage of travelers traveling in those VTC cars.

"This parcel service can be provided with tourist vehicles, derived from industrial vehicles, motorcycles or whatever they want, but not with VTC, just as it could not be provided with taxis," indicates the taxi organization, which also indicates that VTC are destined and authorized exclusively for this activity and cannot alternate it with another, not even in a residual way.

Ruano has said that "from Fedetaxi we will continue to demand what the law establishes until the total closure of that activity" and has criticized Cabify's "alibi", which rests on the activity of transporting goods in tourism vehicles of less than 2 tons of maximum authorized mass (MMA) is liberalized in Spain.

Fedetaxi also recalls that the drivers who work for Prestige and Limousine are classified as drivers of passenger vehicles and not of goods, and has said that it is considering informing the Labor Inspection that drivers of companies that are at risk they provide services for Cabify, forcing them to distribute merchandise, a service outside their labor obligations.

In addition, the taxi organization says that the transported goods cannot be considered shipments, since luggage or merchandise cannot go in the car without a passenger, each of these services being punishable with between 1,001 and 2,001 euros, in accordance with the legislation of land transport.