Taxi Drivers' Demonstration: "The protest is declared until midnight on Sunday," says the National Federation of the Profession

Taxi drivers are mobilizing to denounce the new rules on medical transport and competition from private hire vehicles.

"The protest has been declared until midnight Sunday," particularly in "Paris and Pau," Dominique Buisson, secretary general of the National Taxi Federation, reported on franceinfo on Wednesday, May 21. Hundreds of "angry" taxi drivers continue to protest the new pricing conditions for medical transport and competition from private hire vehicles. They will be mobilized again on Thursday, particularly on Boulevard Raspail in Paris.

"There are provincial taxi drivers heading to Paris, with blockades planned at Orly and Roissy," says Dominique Buisson. Taxi drivers are denouncing "competition from ride-hailing platforms, particularly Uber," which are engaging in "electronic hailing," but "only taxis are authorized to engage in electronic hailing on public roads in search of customers."

"These platforms are flouting all the rules by geolocating their vehicles, which is prohibited," says Dominique Buisson. The Ministry of Transport is proposing to strengthen controls, but "it's a small thing in the Pacific Ocean," he believes. This situation "causes all taxis in train stations and airports to lose revenue ." There is also "soliciting, it's a scourge because a taxi can't go to the customers, they have to come to the taxi in the stations, it's done in particular by illegal taxis in airports and train stations."

Regarding medical transport and the new pricing, " we are ready to start discussing it because for 18 months there have been no discussions with the Cnam (National Health Insurance Fund) ."