In Berlin, all rental cars that are registered with the brokerage services Uber, Bolt and Freenow should be checked. By the end of April 2024, all companies and vehicles that are excluded from brokerage should be identified. According to the announcement, the State Office for Civil and Regulatory Affairs (Labo) and the mediation services have agreed on this.
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Six months ago, the Labo and the brokerage services agreed to take joint action against rental car traffic with unauthorized vehicles. Since then, the lab has been checking all newly registered companies and vehicles to see whether they have a valid permit. Only then will these new companies and vehicles be released for brokerage. Now it's time to check the inventory. According to Labo, there are around 5,600 licensed taxis and around 4,400 approved rental cars in Berlin, most of which can be booked via Uber, Bolt and Freenow apps.
Fake documents
Through checks by the Labo and as a result of findings from, for example, the Berlin police, it became known that there are also a large number of rental cars from companies that do not have a permit and are still arranged via the apps mentioned. “These companies have often submitted falsified documents to the brokerage services without this being discovered in the registration process,” the Labo wrote in August 2023. “In doing so, these companies gain an undue advantage at the expense of properly registered and approved rental car and taxi companies. “
A year earlier, the state of Berlin had imposed a heavy fine on a rental car company that was operating platforms without official approval. From August 2021 to March 2022, the company made more than 100,000 trips illegally with around 160 vehicles, the Senate Department for the Environment, Mobility, Consumer and Climate Protection announced on Wednesday. The fine against the managing director in this “particularly serious case” was set at 500,000 euros.
German passenger transport law requires rental car companies to apply for an operating license and concessions for each vehicle. Without these permits, passenger transport trips cannot be carried out legally. Vehicles and passengers then do not have adequate insurance cover. With the amendment to the Passenger Transport Act in 2021, the rules for intermediaries such as Uber or Free Now have been made more precise. You must ensure that the companies and vehicles participating in the brokerage in the app have the required permits.
(anw)