Taxi and VTC turn to solidarity while income falls 90%

Taxi revenues and the demand of the companies of transport vehicles with driver (VTC) have fallen 90%, at a time when professionals in the sector are focused on altruistically helping health services overwhelmed by the pandemic of the covid-19.

In Madrid, a fact that can be extrapolated to all of Spain due to the measures of confinement to the population, the turnover of the taxi has plummeted 90% since last March 14 the central government decreed the state of alarm to stop the extension of the Coronavirus, has assured Efe the president of the Madrid Taxi Association, Ángel Julio Mejía, who, when all this situation passes, is also expected to preside over the state employers federation Fedetaxi.

According to Mejía, the situation "is very hard for everyone" since there is practically no income, despite the fact that the taxi sector in Madrid has been self-regulating and professionals can only work on alternate days.

This in a normal situation would suppose a fall of income of 50%, but with the covid-19 it is necessary to add that "there is nobody in the streets", he has specified.

Although for him the important thing is that the sick are cured, he warns that the taxi drivers, as self-employed, are not receiving aid due to the collapse of the activity and have to continue paying the mortgage on their houses or the rent on their homes.

In a similar situation are the professionals and companies of passenger transport vehicles, the president of the Unauto VTC employer, Eduardo Martín, told EFE, who, by ministerial order, as well as other sectors, were imposed a reduction in the 50% of services.

This has generated that the demand for VTCs has dropped more than 90%, which he considers "bad news for them, but excellent and good" so that this pandemic can be overcome since it means that people are responsible and stay in house confined.

According to the data provided, 60% of the VTC are self-employed with few employees who are not receiving aid for the cessation of activity, despite the fact that they have "income almost to 0 and they are putting money out of pocket for gasoline" .

This has led some - it has not been possible to quantify them - to request temporary employment regulation files (ERTE) for a greater cause to which the administration has not responded, which they believe may be applied due to administrative silence.

Cabify has presented an ERTE for greater cause for all its staff -of 450 employees- that will be applied by reducing the working day, sources from the company have assured Efe; while Uber has not resorted to this mechanism, which does not imply that companies that work for it have to.

Meanwhile, both taxi drivers and VTC are focused, especially in Madrid, the region most affected by the coronavirus, in transferring free of charge to the health services to provide their service, as well as their homes to the patients who are being discharged in the field hospital installed in the Ifema fairgrounds.

And they are doing it without the administrations providing them with protective equipment such as gloves and masks, lament Mejía and Martín, who have already seen how the first infections have already occurred in their different groups.