This Monday, the Taxify operator closed its operations in four of the regional cities it entered at the end of July. These are České Budějovice, Plzeň, Olomouc and Ostrava. In the Czech Republic it should continue to operate only in Prague. The City Court has recently ruled that Taxify (Bolt) will abandon the metropolis if it fails to comply with the statutory conditions for taxis.
“The return to regional cities could take place after new legislation is adopted, which should also take into account the modern transportation platforms,” noted the company in a press release.
“Our departure, unfortunately, means a significant deterioration in service quality. Just the low quality and the high cost of transport are the factors why we chose these cities for further expansion in the Czech Republic, and we fully understand the enormous demand from the population for new alternatives,” said company director for the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Roman Sysel.
Digital taxi platforms in the Czech Republic
American Uber Pop is a platform that represents an alternative to taxis. Drivers providing services through this application are typically not licensed taxi drivers. The application does not allow you to choose a particular car or a specific driver. The characteristic feature of Uber is the so-called “price surging,” which calculates the price according to the current supply and demand status. In practice, this means that the peak may be significantly more costly.
Estonian Taxify works with both licensed taxi drivers and those called “private drivers”. The application does not allow you to choose a particular car or a specific driver. “When the passengers order the driver, the nearest one arrives,” said Taxify director for Czech and Slovak republic, Roman Sysel.
Liftago is styled as a combination of the best of both worlds. Collaborating drivers must have the appropriate privileges. At the same time, they may cooperate with other dispatchers or platforms. The application allows you to choose drivers at your discretion, for example, by price. Liftago does not determine drivers for the price so drivers can compete.
Slovak Hopin cooperates with about two hundred licensed taxi drivers. The application allows you to order a taxi as per type of the car, maximum cost per kilometer and other parameters such as gender or driver rating.
