exclusive
Fights between taxi and Uber drivers are escalating on the streets in some places. According to research by Report Mainz Car rental companies providing rides for Uber and Bolt fled to nearby areas to avoid controls.
Marcel Hannan watched scenes on his cell phone screen that were difficult to bear. Mass fight between taxi and Uber drivers in Siegburg near Bonn. In the video, a man takes a wheel and hits a driver lying on the ground with it. Small fights became increasingly violent, Marcel Hannan said. He himself was a taxi driver in Siegburg and witnessed the fight: “This is not an isolated case. We were constantly insulted by them.”
violation Car rental company
Why do fights keep happening? Uber and Bolt don’t have their own cars. They forward inquiries received on the platform to many small car rental companies, who then actually implement them. Car rental company drivers do not obey the law, says Marcel Hannan.
For example, there will be an obligation to return a rental car. This means that the car actually has to return to the company’s head office after completing the journey if it does not have a follow-up order and is not allowed to wait for the next passenger. But in some cases, the company’s headquarters only exist on paper, as researched by The ARD-Political magazine shows.
In one case studied, the headquarters of a car rental company was a brothel near Cologne. At other locations of car rental companies in Brandenburg Report Mainz There are no offices, parking lots or break rooms. Instead, document this ARD-Political magazines break into containers and rubbish dumps suspected of being company headquarters.
The car of this car rental company is on the road in Berlin and, according to the authorities, has more than 50 licensed vehicles. A growing number of car rental companies, which provide rides to customers through Uber and Bolt apps, are moving their headquarters to areas around major cities. According to research, this is how they try to avoid official oversight.
Transport politicians: Not an isolated case, but a standard case
Tino Schopf, SPD member of the Berlin Chamber of Deputies and transport politician, confirmed the research carried out by Report Mainz. He called for tighter controls on car rental companies and more comprehensive authorities: “This is organized crime. Many of these companies fled to the Berlin region of Brandenburg to avoid controls, although they continue to drive in the cities,” Schopf said.
Hanna Sammüller, head of the regulatory authority in Munich (KVR district administration department), confirmed in an interview that many car rental companies have now fled Munich to the surrounding areas because their regulatory authorities are now taking stronger measures: “You could say that more than 90 percent of all controlled car rental companies act illegally in some way. We experienced that these companies had head offices that could not be found and that the drivers did not know their bosses, or that the managing directors were absent or simply stupid people.”
Presumably illegal work and fake company
Research by Report Mainz shows with hidden cameras how managing directors are supposed to be hired just for looks and what methods dubious car rental companies are supposed to use to allegedly evade taxes, cheat on social security contributions and cover up undeclared work.
Buying straw men, shell companies and dubious corporate headquarters – these are the types of alleged violations of the law ARD-Political magazines in various locations throughout Germany.
The Uber and Bolt platforms refer to the car rental companies and regulatory authorities responsible. They emphasize that they only arrange trips through the app and require car rental companies to comply with applicable laws and monitor them as well.
Uber has integrated a technical solution into the application to monitor return obligations. Both companies exchanged information with authorities. If there is a violation, the car rental company carrying out the work will be blocked.
Federal Ministry of Labour see The need for action
When asked, a spokesperson for the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (BMAS) explained that they were aware of the problem: “There is now increasing evidence that subcontractors in particular ignore work standards and violate labor and social laws.”
BMAS therefore welcomes the fact that “the coalition factions made clarifications in the Undeclared Work Eradication Law and thus responded to recent developments in the short term.”
