Madrid makes the taxi sector more flexible and closer to the VTC
The Community of Madrid has approved on Tuesday a new decree for the taxi that makes the sector more flexible and brings it closer to that of rental vehicles with driver (VTC) by introducing the possibility of agreeing on a fixed and closed price before the journey and pre-contracting a shared vehicle with space and individual payment.
In addition, this decree, approved at the last Governing Council with Ángel Garrido as president, simplifies the procedures to obtain a license and allows the City Councils to establish plans to amortize permits, in a region where there are currently 16,000 authorizations.
Another change is that taxi drivers will now be able to pick up travelers in municipalities different from those in which their licenses are domiciled if their destination is the locality in which they have been granted. In addition, payment by credit or debit card is guaranteed, as is already the case in the capital.
Until now taxi drivers only offered a fixed rate in the case of special services such as the transfer to the airport and there was no possibility of pre-contracting a shared taxi, a mode of transport that companies such as Uber offer in some countries and that lowers the rate paid each passenger.
The head of the regional government, which will leave his post on Thursday to be part of the PP's candidacy to the European Parliament, has ensured that this regulation is "very good" for taxi drivers and also, he stressed, do not legislate "against anyone" .
This new regulation, which will come into force after its publication in the Official Gazette of the Community of Madrid "struggles in a very unique way against the intrusion" and against unfair competition according to the Government, which however has not detailed in which policies or measures this horizon is specified.
The objective of the Community of Madrid is that with this new regulation the sector is modernized and rationalized thus improving its "competitiveness" and offering an offer "increasingly attractive to users".
Garrido, who managed a strike of 16 days by the sector, has been "convinced that the vast majority of taxi drivers will agree to this regulation", after dialogue with the main groups -Federation Professional Taxi (FPT) ), Auto Taxi Association of Madrid (AGATM), Madrid Taxi Association (ATM), Asociación Elite Taxi Madrid and professionals who provide their service outside the Joint Benefit Area.
.jpeg)
