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July 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 11
Uber signs another memo with Czech finance ministry to report its sales since October
Car-hailing company Uber has signed a memoran- dum with the Czech finance ministry to voluntarily re- cord its sales in the electronic evidence of sales (EET) system and to report them to the Financial Authority. The memorandum was signed by the head of Uber Alexei Stakh and Finance Minister Alena Schillerova.
The company will have to register sales from October – but only from new drivers. Drivers who have been using Uber since before October will have a free choice whether to report or not.
The EET system now applies to restaurants or shops, but not to taxi services. Uber drivers will have to issue electronic receipts to their customers and the com- pany will send all the sales to a central location.
Uber will also provide the names of all drivers, their cars’ registration numbers and the total number of kilometres travelled by January.
The Financial Authority wants to be sure Uber drivers are not evading taxes. Taxi drivers have held several protests against Uber, calling for the EET system to be introduced for Uber drivers, even though taxi services don’t have to register sales.
Uber signed the first memorandum at the beginning of May, under which it will standardise its operations in the country after reaching an agreement with the Czech government in March.
The car-hailing company has officially asked for a trading licence in the Czech Republic. Its drivers will have the same or a similar licence to those held by taxi drivers.
Taxi drivers consider Uber is unfair competition since the company’s drivers currently don’t have
to have a licence, thus they don’t need more expensive compulsory third-party insurance or a taximeter. Overall, they can provide services for less and undercut registered taxi drivers.
Taxi drivers organised several protests in March or February when they slowed down the traffic in Prague. In October 2017, they protested at Vaclav Havel Airport Prague. Violent clashes with Uber drivers have taken place in Prague.
However, taxi drivers don’t have a good reputation in Czechia and a lot of people are in favour of Uber. There are cases of taxi drivers massively overcharg- ing foreign customers, bribing police, and acting
as a ‘taxi mafia’ in Prague. Their services are also expensive, so especially for younger people, Uber has become the fast, reliable and online choice.
Uber in Prague is used by 300,000 people, accord- ing to the company's information. This is a 60% increase in the number of customers over the previous year, Prague TV reported. The number
of active drivers has increased by half to 2,000. Of these, 90% have another source of income.
Uber also experienced a legal fight in the second biggest Czech city Brno. A Brno court ruled in April 2017 that Uber drivers could not provide services without a taxi permit. All cars must be marked
as taxis and feature a taximeter, the verdict said. However, in June 2017, a Czech appeals court an- nounced that it had lifted the ban on Uber in Brno.
By the end of March, Uber also halted its activities in neighbouring Slovakia after the deadline for the ride-sharing service to stop its operations in the country — as ruled by the Bratislava District Court in February — expired...