Transport.Uber returns to Barcelona two years later
MWC The 'taxi war' in Barcelona plans again on the Mobile World Congress
The
taxi drivers
want to
prevent Uber third attempt to consolidate its offer in
Barcelona
is that of the vanquished.
Hundreds of vehicles this morning made a
slow march
through the city center against the start of the activity of the American company in the metropolitan area.
After leaving the Catalan capital two years ago following the decree law of the
Generalitat
that obliges to establish a minimum waiting time of 15 minutes to offer the transport service to customers, the technology company recently announced its return as a transport application but without offering its own fleet of cars.
Uber
assured that it had 350
taxi drivers
who, following the model that already works in the
Community of Madrid
, would be integrated into its platform.
The news unnerved the union, which through the
Elite Taxi
association
expressed its most belligerent reaction and announced mobilizations with the aim of invalidating the company's activity.
Although for the moment they have ruled out a
strike
like the ones in the summer of 2018 and January 2019, when they occupied the streets for several days [also in
Madrid
and other towns], the iconic black and yellow painted vehicles wanted to take their first strike this morning with a
slow march
through the center of
Barcelona
[600 cars according to the
Guardia Urbana
and more than 3,000 for the organizers] with two significant stops.
In the first, before the headquarters of the
Foment del Treball
employers' association
, which has spoken in favor of
Uber being
able to operate in the city, they have launched tickets with the face of its president,
Josep Sánchez Llibre
, and the slogan "Promotion of work precarious".
Later they went to the headquarters of the
Parliament of Catalonia
, where they planned to meet with some representatives of the political groups of the Chamber.
Uber
today asked the authorities to take measures to stop "the intimidation campaign" that, he says, sectors of the union are carrying out against professionals attached to its
platform
.
The company maintains that, since last Tuesday, it has received more than 10,000 requests for trips in the city, but that many drivers are "afraid to go out to work."
The
Elite Taxi
spokesperson
,
Alberto 'Tito' Álvarez
, argues that his group is in favor of competition between the applications of the sector, but considers that, when companies like
Uber
"take over the market", the workers "are subjected to their terms".
No fixed price rate
The
taxi drivers
denounce that the multinational's activity does not comply with the law because, among other reasons, it would operate only with the
rates
measured by the
meters
, but without offering the customer the
closed price
modality
(T3).
The technology company, for its part, insists on the legality of its service and maintains that it is in contact with the
Metropolitan Taxi Institute
(Imet) to be able to operate with the full fare package.
This body has warned
Uber
drivers
that, in the event of not providing the T3 option, an information file would be opened for them.
The penalty for non-compliance with the
pricing
system
can lead to fines of between 250 and 1,250 euros.
The president of the
Imet
,
Rosa Alarcón
, urges the North American company to "comply with the same standards as the rest of the companies that work in the sector."
Uber
, on the other hand, alleges that
other "authorized applications that only offer the taximeter service" already operate
in
Barcelona
and assures that the
Catalan Competition Authority
is analyzing the performance of the Imet.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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