AGCM

PRESS RELEASE

THE ITALIAN ANTITRUST AUTHORITY TO PARLIAMENT: “NEW SET OF RULES FOR UBER AND FOR DIGITAL APPS FOR URBAN TRANSPORT”

Rules should be laid down as soon as possible to regulate urban transport operations by non-professional drivers through digital platforms for smartphones and tablets. This concerns Uber and Apps that allow access to this service, in addition to or as an alternative to taxis and to a car rental service with driver. In its response to a question by the Ministry of the Interior at the request of the State Council, the Antitrust Authority hopes in this regard that “the legislator will intervene at the earliest opportunity in order to regulate – in the least intrusive way possible – these new forms of unscheduled transport, in a way to allow an expansion of systems for the offer of service provision for the benefit of consumers”.

The development of these new Apps as well as the use of similar technological tools by radio-taxi companies are causing throughout the whole world complex issues of interference with traditional service provision. Hence, the insistence by the Antitrust Authority to regulate the sector to ensure competition, road safety and the safety of passengers, by defining a “third type” of drivers in addition to taxi drivers and drivers in the car rental service.

With regard to the UberBlack and UberVan services that differ from each other by means of the different types of vehicles in use – the former with saloon cars with up to four seats and the latter with mini-buses or minivans with more than five places – the Antitrust Authority reaffirms “the legitimacy, in the absence of any legal framework, of the platform, covering private non-scheduled transport services, as recognized also by the State Council”. The same Authority considers as “effectively inapplicable” the obligations established by the legislation in force (No 21/92), maintaining that “a digital platform that connects a demand via smartphone with an offer for services provided by car rental operators with driver cannot in fact by definition observe a rule that requires drivers to provide a service from a garage and to return to the garage at the end of the trip”.

With regard to UberPop, the service provided by non-professional drivers, the Antitrust Authority refers to the order by means of which the Court of Milan – blocking the use of Apps on national territory – “has shown that the activity in question cannot be carried out at the expense of the primary public interest to safeguard the safety of passengers, both with reference to the efficiency of the vehicles used and to the suitability of drivers as well as through adequate insurance coverage for the transport of passengers”. The Italian Antitrust Authority, therefore, asks the legislator to adopt “a basic set of rules for this type of service” with the intention of “emphasizing strongly the obvious benefits in the field of competition and for end users arising from a general statement regarding the new communications platforms”. This means “greater ease in the implementation of mobility services, a wider coverage of a demand that is frequently not met, a consequent reduction of costs for users and, to the extent that it discourages the use of private vehicles, a relief of congestion in urban traffic”.

Rome, 2 November 2015