- Title: Taxi drivers rally in Serbia's capital over ride-sharing service
- Date: 15th October 2019
- Summary: BELGRADE, SERBIA (OCTOBER 15, 2019) (REUTERS) POLICE OFFICER DIRECTING TRAFFIC, TAXIS DRIVING PAST HIM (AUDIO OF CAR HORNS) VARIOUS OF TAXIS DRIVING IN STREET VARIOUS OF TAXIS DRIVING IN LONG LINE IN STREET (AUDIO OF CAR HORNS) (SOUNDBITE) (Serbian) 50-YEAR-OLD TAXI DRIVER, DRAGAN GLIVISIC, SAYING: "We cannot fulfil our rights, ever, we are always the second fiddle, everyone in this city belittles us, people look at us as if we, taxi drivers, are some kind of garbage. Whenever I tell someone I am a taxi driver they react as if I make them sick. We want the people to change the way they look at us, we are humans too, and we want to work." VARIOUS OF TAXIS STOPPED AT ROUNDABOUT TAXIS STOPPED IN LONG LINE ON BOULEVARD VARIOUS OF TAXI DRIVERS STANDING AMONG TAXIS (SOUNDBITE) (Serbian) TAXI DRIVER, MILE JOVANOVSKI, SAYING: "Unregulated cabs are our main problem and we will not give up until this issue is solved. It is up to the government now to enforce the law. That is our main demand." VARIOUS OF TAXIS STOPPED IN LONG LINE ON STREET TAXI DRIVERS STANDING AND TALKING TAXI SIGNS ON TAXIS TAXI DRIVERS STANDING AND TALKING (SOUNDBITE) (Serbian) BELGRADE RESIDENT, SARA SIKORA, SAYING: "They should think about citizens about how many people may have died because of this (traffic blockade). Ambulances cannot pass through, people cannot get to work and from work. I am now walking home back from work and it is taking ages. I don't know what they think they will achieve by this. I will definitely not be using taxi after this." VARIOUS OF TAXIS STOPPED IN LINE ON BOULEVARD (SOUNDBITE) (Serbian) BELGRADE RESIDENT DEJAN DEVIC SAYING: "Why can't they protest like other people and stop their work instead of blocking the entire city. None of us can understand that." TAXIS STOPPED IN LINE TAXI SIGN ON TOP OF TAXI TAXIS STOPPED IN LINE
- Embargoed: 29th October 2019 16:14
- Keywords: Belgrade Serbia taxi protest taxi drivers protesting ride sharing services
- Location: BELGRADE, SERBIA
- City: BELGRADE, SERBIA
- Country: Serbia
- Topics: Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA001B17KX89
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Taxi drivers in the Serbian capital Belgrade blocked the city centre on Tuesday (October 15) to protest the impact of a ride-sharing service on their business and to call on the government to ban it.
They later cleared their blockade after talks with Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic, who convinced them to "have faith in institutions" according to a protest leader.
The taxi drivers want the government to ban Car:Go, a local version of Uber, arguing its drivers are not legally registered to transport people and they do not meet strict regulations set for taxis.
Car:Go has used legal loopholes to operate such as registering as an NGO where some users of its app are passenger members who "compensate" driver members for their services.
Taxi driver Dragan Glivisic said taxi drivers wanted to have their rights respected.
Car:Go was launched in 2015 and now has about 1,000 drivers and 120,000 registered clients. Their fares are often cheaper than those of regular taxis.
In a statement, Car:Go's director Vuk Guberinic said the company will continue to operate and asked for an overhaul of existing laws to allow ride-sharing services.
(Production: Fedja Grulovic, Mark Djurica, Suzana Sabljic, Dominik Starosz) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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