Starting on January 1st, the amended law on road transport, referred to as "lex Uber", became effective. The new legislation is to bring order to transport companies market and to do away with grey economy. Among the introduced changes, drivers won't be required to pass city topography tests, and will be allowed to replace taximeters with applications.
The amended law written by the infrastructure ministry, apart from introducing requirement to hire licensed drivers, permits ride-services drivers to use applications instead of taximeters and cash registers. The latter solution was protested against by taxi corporations.
Last year, Polish taxi drivers staged protests demanding equal rules for themselves and drivers of app-based car firms such as Uber, which have become hugely popular in Polish cities but licensed taxi drivers complain they are driving down taxi fares.
The law assumes that ride-services companies will be required to hire of only licensed drivers. In order to implement the regulation a duty to verify drivers has been imposed.
The same rule applies the other way round - drivers will only be allowed to work for licensed operators.
The institution dealing with road transport licenses in Poland is the General Inspectorate of Road Transport.
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 News in English, PAP, Reuters
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: TVN24