Bolt may leave Hungary – Hungarian taxi drivers sabotage the company

In 2016, the joint forces of the Hungarian taxi drivers could persuade the government to modify some laws resulting in the popular Uber’s departure from Hungary. The government-taxi drivers front is strong. For instance, the taxi drivers were exempted from last year’s tax modifications abolishing the KATA tax, among others. Furthermore, they were granted to purchase fuel at a reduced price unlike other companies and service providers in Hungary. PM Orbán knows: the Hungarian taxi drivers’ resistance can be harsh.

Hungary’s four times reelected Prime Minister learnt about the power of taxi drivers when he was a fresh-faced politician. In autumn 1990, after the democratically-elected Hungarian government decided to drastically raise fuel prices, out of economic necessity, the taxi drivers paralysed traffic in the country, creating such chaos that almost resulted in the fall of the Antall administration.

The Hungarian taxi drivers are now on a mission to sabotage the Estonian Bolt in order to make them leave Hungary, index.hu wrote. Zoltán Metál, the chairman of Hungary’s National Taxi Federation, submitted a plea to the municipal leadership of Budapest to withdraw all licenses they issued for Bolt HTX Ltd and the company’s contracted drivers. Substantially, Mr Metál does not agree with Bolt’s trademark use.

Mr Metál believes Bolt should not have only the words Bolt Taxi on their displays but also the illustration. Furthermore, Bolt’s EU trademark shows green letters on a white background, while the service provider uses those colours and vice versa. Mr Metál said the Estonian Bolt and other Hungarian taxi companies do not have similar rights and obligations. For example, the former does not pay taxes in Hungary. Therefore, they pay less, so they have more money for development.

What will Budapest do with Bolt?

Mr Metál added that a number of Hungarian service providers sent complaints about Bolt’s trademark to Budapest’s chief clerk, Tamás Számadó, but did not receive a straight answer. Thus, it is unlikely Budapest will do something decisive in the matter. Of course, the government has a 2/3rd majority in the parliament, so they can modify all rules concerning taxi providers. Uber left Hungary because of such a change in 2016.

Budapest now has ten taxi service providers. In Hungary, there are 9,500 taxis, while in Budapest, 5,500. In March, the fares increased significantly. The base fare crept up to HUF 1,100 (EUR 2.91), the km fare to HUF 440 (EUR 1.16), while the per minute fare jumped to HUF 110 (EUR 0.29). The result was a slight fall in demand. But that lasted only 2-3 weeks. Mr Metál said they do not want further increases for now.

We wrote about the expected taxi prices during the Formula-1 Hungarian Grand Prix HERE.