New York (AFP)
The New York state attorney claimed New York City on Thursday for $ 810 million to compensate taxi drivers who she claims were artificially inflated by the municipality.
Prosecutor Letitia James criticizes New York City for selling the licenses between 2004 and 2017 through an auction system that has taken their prices to unwarranted levels.
From 2011, the municipality maintained this mechanism in the state while an internal study had shown, according to the prosecutor, that the price of the licenses was higher than their true economic value.
Between 2004 and 2014, the average price of an auction license increased from 283,300 to 965,000 dollars, according to figures released Thursday by the services of Letitia James.
It then collapsed, under the effect of the massive arrival of VTC platforms (passenger vehicles with driver), mainly Uber and Lyft.
According to a New York Times survey, more than 950 licensed taxi drivers have declared personal bankruptcy since 2016.
Today, a license can be negotiated with a taxi driver for less than $ 200,000.
The amount claimed from the city by prosecutor James, $ 810 million, corresponds to the municipality's revenues from the sale of licenses and the resale tax.
According to the prosecutor, New York notably set up a floor price during the auctions, but also allowed brokers and major players in the sector, who had tens or even hundreds of licenses, to agree on prices.
The taxi regulatory agency and VTC in New York even reported to taxi drivers that the license could be used as collateral for a loan, to encourage them to bid.
The New York Times investigation showed that many taxi drivers had taken out loans of several hundred thousand dollars when the income from their activity did not allow them to consider repaying them.
In the letter sent Thursday to the city, the prosecutor gives 30 days to the municipality to pay the requested sum, failing which she will take her to court.
"We have been working on improving the financial situation of drivers for six years," reacted in a statement sent to AFP, Freddi Goldstein, press secretary for the office of the mayor, Bill de Blasio, who took up his duties in early 2014. .
A source close to the town hall stressed to AFP that the De Blasio administration had carried out only one auction, at the start of the first mandate, an operation which had been planned by the previous administration.
"We have faced this crisis and worked tirelessly to repair the damage caused by the greed of some," she added.
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