The new Uberu drivers (but the current drivers will not) will have to use the electronic revenue recorders (ERR) as of October 2018. At the same time, Uber has pledged that all new drivers will issue electronic receipts to customers from October. In a joint memorandum, Minister of Finance Alena Schillerová (ANO) and General Manager of Uber for Central and Eastern Europe Alexei Stakh obliged to do so on Thursday.
“Uber has committed itself to voluntarily starting to use the ERR even though it is not yet required to do so by law. This will concern all new drivers,” said Minister Schillerová on Thursday. However, the company will also appeal to existing drivers to join the ERR project.
“We plan to launch the ERR since October this year for the contingent of drivers who will be driving us from this very date. Then we will consider any further expansion,” added Minister Stakh.
Drivers, according to Schiller, will not have to have their own devices, but the system will be set centrally. “The data will be provided to the financial administration and the bill will be issued just as the taxpayers have,” added Schiller.
The bill will be delivered to the customer electronically by e-mail as well as to the application through which the service has been ordered. At this time, the customer is charged with the amount for ride this way, and from October, the ERR codes will be added.
Regulation of Shared Economy
Uber also undertakes to provide the Czech Republic with information on transactions, which, according to the ministry, is important for tax inspections. “This act should distract the fear that the state is not able to regulate the shared economy,” as Schiller welcomes the approval of memorandum.
The ministry took this step after the criticism and numerous strikes from taxi drivers has increased. They complain that Uber drivers do not have to comply with certain legal obligations that are necessary for taxi drivers.
Uber for up to 300,000 people
The obligation to register sales in the ERR and to provide information and driving data to its drivers was promised by representatives of Uber as part of a memorandum agreed with the government in April. At the time, the company was committed to establishing a trade license, which was still missing in the Czech Republic.
Uber services in Prague are used by 300,000 people according to information from the company. The number of active drivers has increased by half to 2000 people. Of these, 90 percent has another source of income.
ERR is still valid for restaurants, hotels and shops. The start of the third and fourth phases, including taxis, was scheduled for this year. However, the proceeding of the next phases was cancelled by the decision of the Constitutional Court, thus, according to the Ministry of Finance, it will have, at least, one-year delay.
Problematic Services
Internet taxi ordering platforms offer the option of ordering and paying for a route through a mobile application. The customer knows in advance how much he pays. Drivers who drive for the service do not use taximeters and do not need licenses. The app charges a fee for service mediation and the rest goes to the driver.
The application is very popular especially because it prevents unfair practices of overriding trips in unknown towns. Opposition, on the other hand, is made by traditional taxi drivers, who worry that drivers driving using the application do not have the same strict conditions as they do. Individual countries, including the Czech Republic, are therefore legislatively solving the conditions and how to deal with the so-called shared economy.
In several cities and countries was Uber even banned, for example, in neighbouring Slovakia. The firm appealed. Similar issues are being addressed even by Taxify.
