Since September, ordering a taxi ride may be exceptionally difficult, because every third driver has already disappeared from the market. Waiting times for a ride have increased by as much as 60 percent, and prices have jumped by one fifth – we read in Wednesday's edition of “Rzeczpospolita”.
“The pandemic has decimated the ranks of traditional taxi drivers, and now – after the introduction of the obligation to have a Polish driving license – many foreigners who are the driving force of companies providing passenger transport services via the app are resigning. Experts say that passengers will feel the consequences from September, when the dead holiday period for taxis ends,” the newspaper emphasizes.
“This bodes huge shortages”
Since the beginning of 2024, as he points out, 2,455 companies, mainly sole proprietorships, have suspended business in this industry – according to the latest data from Dun & Bradstreet (DNB). Almost 600 more have been liquidated. Tomasz Starzyk, an expert at DNB, points out that from the beginning of June to August 14, over 200 taxis disappeared from the registers.
– This bodes huge shortages on the supply side. More than three thousand taxi companies are facing smaller and bigger problems this year, mainly sole proprietorships – says Starzyk.
And this, as he points out, is just the tip of the iceberg. – Many taxi drivers, especially those driving with the Uber, Bolt or FreeNow applications, do not have their own business and work on various contracts. The scale of departures from the industry may therefore be much larger than the DNB data shows. Companies from this sector estimate that the change in the law has eliminated 30 percent of drivers – he says.
The market trembled
– When the regulations changed in June this year, introducing the obligation to have a Polish driving license for all drivers providing transport services, the market trembled at the thought of the consequences – notes Łukasz Witkowski, co-founder of Natviol, a settlement application for drivers and couriers, quoted by the newspaper.
“And the fears are confirmed: the problems with the availability of taxis are huge,” points out “Rz”.
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