As you all probably know, Uber has shaken the taxi industry world wide. With it s cool app easily accessed, cheap rides and wide spread usage, Uber has disrupted the industry. Croatia is no exception.
The whole problem is like in many countries the law regulating the transportation of people from point A to point B. There is currently no law that takes into account the possibility of picking up people with your own personal car and profiting from it. This would not probably be a huge problem, would not there be all those laws set up to regulate the regular taxi industry in Croatia.
To explain the situation a bit deeper:
Usually, you would get to a bus or train station after your arrival. There would be all these taxi drivers, parked near by. You probably need a ride to get to the apartment or hostel or wherever you need to go. You get to them and ask if they can give you a ride. They happily accept your ask. You get into a polite conversation and sooner or later get to the destination. Here is the tricky part, you being polite, after asking for the price and thinking the polite driver is a decent human being, pay usually any price he tells you without much thinking. Needles to say, the stated price is often several times higher than it is usually. Many tourists do not even notice, being in a country where prices are cheaper. That is just one example how the usual drivers scam unprepared victims. I also was a victim of this approach to business when traveling to Bosnia and Hercegovina.
That is the situation from the tourists view and the single private business taxi driver.
There were and currently are a couple mayor players in the game. Taxi Cammeo, leading the way with the most cars on the road. But that leadership did not come at no cost for the drivers. They usually drive more hours and are not fully paid. Their base salary is about 500$ for at least 50 hour work day. The consumers get a fixed and know price, but the drivers are underpaid. So that situation is also not great.
From the view point of the government, they want to get money from any transaction and business possible. From registering the vehicles, getting all kinds of certifications and taxes on every money exchange. This is where the problem lies. There are currently no laws regulating such a specific kind of business. The government looses the certification money and monopoly on the number of vehicles on the road. And the old players are dissatisfied and furious because they paid all the licenses and certifications (one driver stated he had to invest 10k$ for starting the solo driving business to satisfy the state laws).
Now we have a situation where the interests of the general public (the tourists, hobby drivers, usual customers etc.) and the government and taxi oligopoly are in opposite directions. While for most people it is better to have Uber working and allowing for greater market benefits for the consumer, with cheaper rides and ahead know prices.
Now the government wants to put a stop to all of this. They are making up an law that will prohibit the use of the Uber application. With great probability it will pass the Croatian parliament and with that disrupt Smith s "invisible hand". We all know how that works in most cases.
This is an issue that is not spoken often enough. I do not even use Uber, but I find the idea of blocking access to an application a violation of my human rights. There has to be an international law considering this, is there? And if not, why is there not?
Many questions arise in my mind by thinking about this topic. How would I feel if I were a taxi driver that paid all that licenses and now faces "unloyal competition". Probably fucked. But should that be a worry of the general public. Not that anybody gives a shit about my problems. Should that even be so?
Hard to answer all those questions without getting too philosophical. At least from my perspective.
Hope you liked my short post on Uber in Croatia, keep an eye open for my next post and do not forget to smile :) Cheers all
P.S.
Best thing when taking a taxi on the Balkans is like everywhere to set the price before your ride or too tell the driver to turn on the taxi meter. Always be informed about the prices in the country you are traveling to.