(Finance) – The Competition and Market Guarantor Authority has sent to the Municipalities of Rome, Milan and Naples a report on the critical issues encountered in the provision of the taxi service to the detriment of users, in terms of quality and efficiency of the service provided. From the analysis of the responses provided by the Municipalities to the requests for information sent by the Authority, a widespread and structural inadequacy of the number of active licenses compared to the demand for the taxi service. This situation has generated a very high number of unfulfilled requests and excessively long waiting times for the provision of the service.
The Authority itself communicates this, explaining that the investigation carried out photographs a context in which in Rome the number of active licenses is equal to 7,962, which corresponds to 2.8 licenses for every 1,000 residents; in Milan the 4,853 active licenses are equal to 3.5 licenses for every 1,000 residents; in Naples, compared to 2,364 active licenses, 2.6 licenses are available per 1,000 inhabitants.
To overcome this serious situation and open the market to competitionthe Authority urges the Municipalities of Rome, Milan and Naples to adapt the number of taxi licenses to the demand for these services, of which a significant part remains, to date, constantly unsatisfied, pushing the increase beyond the 20% ceiling set extraordinarily in the so-called Asset decree (n. 104/2023 converted into law 9 October 2023, no. 136) and quickly adopting public tenders for the assignment of new licences.
Always with a view to increase the quality of service, we also hope for the adoption of additional measures, such as the regulation of the institute of double guides (currently present in Rome and Milan but not in Naples); the implementation of taxi sharing; making shifts more efficient, to make them more flexible.
Furthermore, the Authority recommends the exercise of a active and effective monitoring of the adequacy of the taxi service offer and the actual provision of the service itself, adopting adequate control mechanisms, the results of which must be adequately publicised.