Uber and government agree on terms

App-based ride service Uber has agreed with the prime minister on rules for doing business in the Czech Republic. The company said that drivers would get taxi licenses and they will also record their revenue and pay taxes on it. The company will join the electronic evidence of sales (EET) system.

A memorandum of understanding should be signed by the end of March. By the end of April, Uber should conclude terms for revenue reporting with the Financial Administration.

The announcement came March 8 after Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) met with Uber company representatives.

Babiš sent a letter to Uber at the end of February asking the firm to comply with the law or to consider terminating services in the country. The company then said it wanted to resolve the situation.

The presence of Uber drivers in Prague has caused several protests that stalled traffic. Uber is also present in Brno.

“Uber has a business here that only does marketing, and business is done in the Netherlands. They will be asking for a trade license immediately, and by the end of March, we will sign a memorandum that will include the fact that all drivers must apply for a license,” Babiš said.

He added that the government supported new technology but companies cannot violate rules to gain advantages.

Prague Mayor Adriana Krnáčová (ANO) will deal with increasing the capacity of testing rooms for the large influx of drivers seeking licenses, which Uber has requested.

“I am glad to realize that they have been acting illegally for four years," Krnáčová said.

Alexei Stakh, Uber general director for the CEE region, said he welcomed the breakthrough.

“We take the comments from today's meeting very seriously. We are definitely confronted with tasks that we have to solve, and we believe that further negotiations will follow in the future as we are committed to doing the right thing for thousands of consumers, for drivers and for Prague,” Stakh said, adding that he wanted also wanted to make the service more efficient.

Transport Minister Dan Ťok (for ANO) said that it is not acceptable that some drivers will continue to drive for Uber without a license. “I would like to push them to immediately stop using unlicensed drivers,” he said. Krnáčová said unlicensed drivers could be penalized.

The Association of Taxi Concessionaires (AKT), one of the groups that organized Prague protests against competition from Uber, was restrained in its response to the deal, but further protests in the Prague are not currently planned.

AKT spokeswoman Karolina Venclová said she was skeptical about whether Uber would comply with the agreement and the taxi organization would be monitoring the situation.

Taxi drivers last protested on March 1 in front of the Government Office with 200 cars. They also protested in February with hundreds of cars slowing traffic. The biggest protest was in October 2017 at Václav Havel Airport Prague.

Uber in Prague is used by 300,000 people according to the company's information. This is a 60 percent increase in the number of customers over the previous year. The number of active drivers has increased by half to 2,000. Of these, 90 percent has another source of income.