The Vigo City Council has been fighting a battle against Uber for months that is not going exactly well. Of course, the response of the council in recent days has been to complicate things at the service of VTC. The Conxemar fair, one of the most important business events in Galicia, has been the chosen scenario to prove it.
Conflict. Since Uber landed in Vigo in Junetaxi drivers have denounced that VTCs operate illegally on urban routes. Galician regulations stipulate that these vehicles can make intercity trips, but not those of an urban nature, such as going from the center to the Ifevi fairgrounds. However, the application continued to offer services in the city with hardly any consequences. At the end of August, the City Council reported that 60% of Uber vehicles in Vigo had been proposed for sanction. The data has its merits, since all these vehicles belong to companies based in Madrid that domiciled their cars in Galicia this same year. The complaints ended up recurring all the time while the activity continued.
The pressure of taxi drivers. Conxemar was the first big event in the city since the arrival of Uber, and taxi drivers feared that the VTCs would keep part of the business generated by the fair. Faced with the situation, nearly 300 professionals created a pressure group outside the taxi employers’ associations. “If the local Police or the Civil Guard do not act on the first day of Conxemar, we may collapse the fair,” said Ángel, one of the group’s taxi drivers, to the media. The Voice of Galicia. The pressure took effect. The Local Police deployed controls at the accesses to the Ifevi with an application from the Ministry of Transport that allows knowing in real time the origin and destination of each trip, in addition to the complete history of VTC movements.
Sanctions and controversy. During the first day of Conxemar, the Local Police reported four vehicles and immobilized two others with a tow truck included on Airport Avenue. Daniel Matías, president of the Elite Taxi Vigo association, acknowledged with satisfaction that the authorities “have done their job today,” just as shared the middle. The taxi drivers, who deployed some 400 vehicles in large shifts, celebrated the performance. However, Uber continued to offer trips in the morning with prices higher than 25 euros due to “high demand”, and some drivers They managed to jump the police fence to access Ifevi and the airport during the afternoon.
A legal loophole. The Unauto employers’ association already has announced that he will appeal all sanctions. José Manuel Gallo, its director of legal services, commented to the media Faro de Vigo that “Let us not forget that VTC vehicles are covered by a totally legal transport authorization.” The employers’ association regrets that they are being “turned away” when “it is a reality that the VTC wants to make its way in Vigo”, after having unsuccessfully requested meetings with the Council and the Xunta. Uber takes advantage of the gaps in the system, since some vehicles come in the morning from Pontevedra and perform services on the limits of Vigo, a gray area that makes police action difficult.
An open pulse. Penalties can reach up to 6,000 euros per vehicle, but all those imposed so far have been appealed in court. Meanwhile, in Vigo up to 40 VTCs operate without a municipal license, protected by what the employers consider a “legal loophole” and which the taxi sector directly classifies as illegal activity. Matias explains to the media that they now hope that “the situation remains the same”, aware that the complicated thing is “being behind” these vehicles when there are no events that facilitate the controls.
Cover image | Paula Pereira and Tingey Injury Law Firm
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