Ragoussis’ crucial parliamentary meeting about the issue of taxis

Younger taxi drivers complain about a cartel in their sector

 

 

The relationship between the taxi industry and the ministry of infrastructure is driven to extremes, with the owners resisting all regulations by Ragousis and the government appears firm in the complete deregulation of the profession and pushes the peripheries to impose sanctions regarding the summer riots and blockades of national roads by taxi drivers.

The meeting with the parliamentary group is the most crucial for Ragousis given the responses and objections expressed by many MPs. Although the government line is to vote in favor, no one can predict what position will finally be taken. From Thessaloniki, however, the President of the Syndicate of motorists did not hesitate to threaten the members of parliament, saying "the MPs who will vote in favor of this monstrosity will not leave the parliament."

At the same time, market professionals express reservations about the plan that is in consultation until September 14. Yesterday, the General Confederation of Professionals, Craftsmen and Merchants (GSEVEE), with its letter to Ragoussis, stresses the need to avoid the phenomenon of "cartels" in the industry and calls to resolve the issue regarding the property of the owners, arguing that "most are toilers that did not swell their bank accounts in Switzerland."

In recent days there are objections on the draft for permit allocation to regulated businesses (SA or LTD) as there is concern that the benefits of liberalization of the profession only go to companies and lead to oligopolies. The critics of this regulation say that supportive of the above view is the fact that the cost of acquisition of the license reaches 40.000 euros excluding the vehicle registration, the authorization of the company and investing in a car with anti-pollution technology that make it extremely difficult for younger drivers to make such an investment. They add that with the government's plan, small owners are driven to bankruptcy as the fare and market share are both being reduced.

"Obviously they will have to surrender their licenses in major cartels that will monopolize the supralocal and major hotel centers", note those who react with the law.