Romania considering ban on ride-hailing apps

Romania could issue an emergency ordinance this week that will restrict ride-hailing services that operate in the country.

Uber and Bolt–formerly Taxify–have issued a joint statement urging the government not to ban the service outright but to adopt a regulatory framework for mobility service providers, similar to those in place in other EU countries and cities. Bolt has highlighted the model adopted by Estonia as a best practice example to follow.

On Wednesday 20 March, Dominick Moxon-Tritsch, Director of Regulation and Public Policy at Bolt, was due to fly to Cluj-Napoca to accept an EU start-up innovation prize from the Romanian Minister for the Digital Economy, Alexandru Petrescu. Romania currently holds the Presidency of the Council of the EU.

“We are in the slightly absurd position of accepting a prize for a start-up innovation in a country in which we may well be unable to operate next week,” he told delegates during the MaaS Market conference held in London on 20 March.

Moxon-Tritsch added that although there is “very real buy in” from the Romanian minister, the government is facing pressure from the taxi industry.

“There have always been historical linkages between taxis and organised crime,” he added. “The Romanian government is making heroic strides to push dirty money out of our industry but the taxi industry is accustomed to getting its own way.”

The joint Uber-Bolt statement said that over two million people in Romania are active users of ride-hailing apps–the “ace in the hole” according to Moxon-Tritsch to fight back against any ordinance measures restricting their operation.Speaking to Cities Today after attending the prize ceremony in Romania, Moxon-Tritsch said he had had a series of very helpful conversations over the last two days with the minister.

“My nose tells me that politics will prevail,” he said. “Minister Petrescu is incredibly impressive. I have a very strong feeling that he is not in the business of sending the signal to the international tech community that Romania is not open to innovation.”

Moxon-Tritsch did say however that Bolt would be exploring all of its options if the emergency ordinance were to pass.

Bolt was one of five start-ups recognised by the European Commission’s DG Connect Directive awards which recognised leaders in inclusion, women empowerment, founders under 30, growth and the SDGs.