The basic taxi fare in Budapest will rise from 700 forints to 1000, while the per-kilometer fare will go up from 300 forints to 400 from Monday.Continue reading
Just a week after Budapest raised the official uniform tariffs on the city’s taxis, several taxi companies have already decided to increase their membership fees as well, thereby eliminating a huge chunk of increased revenue for drivers.
Public tariffs in Budapest have recently increased by a third. The basic fee rose from HUF 700 (EUR 1.80) to HUF 1,000 (EUR 2.60), the kilometer fee from HUF 300 (EUR 0.77) to HUF 400 (a bit more than EUR 1), and the per-minute fee from HUF 75 (EUR 0.19) to HUF 100 (EUR 0.26).
We wanted a tariff increase because everyone lives off of us. Now that we’ve got it, they’re quick to take some of it away. But it was meant for us,”
a taxi driver told 24.hu.
It is known that Főtaxi has increased its membership fee by almost 40,000 forints (EUR 103.73) per month, i.e. the amount for which a driver can work for the company. The company did not confirm this amount in its reply but did not deny it either. They wrote that “in order to improve the efficiency of its passenger service, Főtaxi is introducing a new premium membership fee system. From May 23, taxi franchise partners will receive an automatic credit towards the next week’s membership fee on the basis of the average number of journeys made per week. The premium system will allow our partners to pay a lower membership fee than before in return for service during priority periods and routes.”
According to 24.hu, City Taxi introduced a smaller increase, with a monthly fee of HUF 10,000 (EUR 25.94). The company did not respond to the paper’s questions, nor did 6X6 Taxi. Taxi drivers also have to pay more than Bolt (an application through which people can order a taxi), as they operate on a percentage system.
Zoltán Metál, president of the National Taxis Association, does not know about specific increases, but according to his information, several companies are planning to increase their membership fees. He added that this is understandable. According to him, different levels of possible increases could even lead to competition in the market, which would not necessarily be bad for taxi drivers.
Featured image via Zoltán Balogh/MTI