Getting a taxi just became more expensive in Budapest

Taxi travel became more expensive in Budapest, following a ten percent increase in the Hungarian capital’s taxi fares.

Taxi services in Hungary’s capital Budapest have become more expensive following a new price increase, 24.hu reports based on information from MTI.

The basic fare of a trip has risen from HUF 1,000 (EUR2.65) to 1,100 (EUR 2.92). The kilometre fare jumped from HUF 400 (EUR 1.06) to 440 (EUR 1.17) and the per-minute fare from HUF 100 (EUR 0.29) to 110 (EUR 0.29).

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On 25 January, the General Assembly of Budapest amended the taxi regulation on the proposal of Mayor Gergely Karácsony.

The reason given for the fee increase was the abolition of the fuel price cap. The price cup for fuel was lifted at the beginning of December 2022. This meant that the costs of cab drivers have increased significantly, and the capital is trying to alleviate this with the price increase.

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Taxi associations are dissatisfied

According to the statistics of MTI, cab fares have increased by 120 percent since 2021. However, taxi drivers would have liked to see a more significant increase in their services. They proposed increasing the base fares to HUF 1,500 (EUR 3.98) instead of the announced HUF 1,100. As Zoltán Metál, the president of the National Taxi Association said, a taxi driver currently spends HUF 135,000 (EUR 358) more on fuel than during the price caps.

To this date, taxi fares are regulated by the local and national governments, therefore, prices do not follow market changes. However, this means that regular talks have to be organised between the local governments and the associations to negotiate compensation.

According to Mayor Gergely Karácsony, the elimination of the official price would be detrimental to market competition in the long run. He argues different companies on the market have varying capital strengths. For this reason, they are recommending a banded regulation that permits but does not impede competition.

Source: 24.hu, turizmus.com