The Taxify operator must not continue to operate in Prague unless it enforces the statutory conditions for taxis. This follows from Tuesday’s decision of the Municipal Court in Prague. The company may appeal against the decision.
The court took the decision that the company operated transport services. Taxify argued for a long time that it only develops a transport application and does not provide transport services itself. The application can be used by all drivers who install it, says the company.
“We do not agree with today’s decision of the court and we are prepared to appeal against it,” said the Director of Taxify for the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Roman Sysel to Novinky.
“We see today´s statement not only as a step back for Taxify, but also as a loss of progress and freedom of transportation in the Czech Republic,” he added.
“We hope that in the future, the Czech Republic will join its laws with modern countries, which will allow the development of a free transport market and that Czechs will be able to freely use innovative ways of transportation in cities,” concluded Sysel.
The City Court is, in parallel, dealing with another lawsuit against Taxify filed by Liftago. On the basis of this, the Municipal Court in Prague issued a preliminary measure, which determines that Taxify in Olomouc, Ostrava, Plzeň and České Budějovice is to be operated only by licensed drivers with registered cars.
Digital taxi platforms in the Czech Republic
American Uber Pop is a platform that represents an alternative to taxis. Drivers providing services through the application are typically not licensed taxi drivers. The application does not allow you to choose a particular car or a specific driver. The characteristic feature of Uber is so-called “price surging”, which calculates the price according to the current supply and demand status. In practice, this means that the peak may be significantly more costly.
Estonian Taxify works with both licensed taxi drivers and those called “private drivers”. The application does not allow you to choose a particular car or a specific driver. “When the passengers order the driver, the nearest one arrives,” said Taxify Director for Czech and Slovak republic, Roman Sysel.
Liftago is styled as a combination of the best of both worlds. Collaborating drivers must have the appropriate privileges. At the same time, they may cooperate with other dispatchers or platforms. The application allows you to choose drivers at your discretion, for example, by price. Liftago does not determine drivers for the price so drivers can compete.
Slovak Hopin cooperates with about two hundred licensed taxi drivers. The application allows you to order a taxi per car type, maximum cost per kilometer, and other parameters such as gender or driver rating.
