Taxi drivers continue to press gov't for tighter industry regulations

On Wednesday, Jerzy Szmit, the Deputy Minister of Poland’s Ministry of Infrastructure and Development, received a petition asking the government to increase regulation, so as to make the market fairer for all operators, according to reporters outside of the Ministry. A representative for the transportation trade union which supports taxi operators, Tadeusz Tomaszewski, said, “We hope that soon the government will [deal with] the matter of illegal carriers. [Legal] taxi drivers do not have anything against other carriers, provided that they apply the same working conditions [to all] 100,000-plus taxi drivers throughout the country,” as he handed the petition to Szmit. He added that a key issue was the requirement that all drivers obtain medical examinations to vouch for their credibility and ensure their dependability for work. The chairman of the trade union for Warsaw taxi drivers, Jarosław Iglikowski, said that if the problem is not resolved, taxi drivers will consider other forms of protest. “We will block the site, the airports and highways,” he said. He also said that illegal operators have been on the market for seven to eight years. Vice-minister Szmit assured Tomaszewski that the government was preparing the bill. “It is at the final stage,” he stated. “I hope that in February it [will be] passed [in the Sejm]. The law is to be applied to regulate the market. We want companies have equal opportunities,” Szmit said. On Wednesday morning, it was reported that dozens of taxis had honked their horns outside of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development in protest. Carriers also claim that there are illegal entities that offer their services through mobile applications, without a license.