The era of taxi terror is over, the Constitutional Court: “It is unconstitutional not to issue new NCC licenses”. Now the ball is in the court of the Municipalities
The market does not suit Italy. Or at least public services in Italy. Even less so when it comes to local public transport. Let’s hope that the decision of the Consulta on NCC licenses could bring down the house of cards that imprisons the freedom of movement of citizens (and tourists, it is appropriate to also remember this category of precious users in this torrid summer, which has rekindled the attention of foreigners for the Bel Paese).
The blocking of NCC licenses – for more than five years – has contributed to consolidating the monopoly of taxi drivers, who in turn – especially in large Italian cities – have been able to add arrogance in the face of the lack of market for local public transport.
We can now say that the ban on issuing new authorizations for the chauffeur-driven rental service (NCC), contained in the Simplifications decree of 2018, is unconstitutional. Waiting for the full operation of the national computerized register of companies holding taxi licenses and NCC authorizations has been the excuse for all this time to “raise a barrier to the entry of new operators” – we use the words of the constitutional judges – seriously compromising “the possibility of increasing the already deficient offer of non-scheduled public transport services”.
The Court reiterated that the Antitrust’s concern, aimed at highlighting that “the expansion of the offer of non-scheduled public services responds to the need to deal with a high and largely unsatisfied demand, especially in metropolitan areas, generally characterized by higher traffic density and the inability of scheduled public transport and taxi services to fully cover the mobility needs of the population”, had been “completely ignored”.
The censored rule has therefore caused, in a disproportionate way, “serious harm to the interest of the citizens and the entire community”. It is not just a matter of having compromised the well-being of the consumer, but there is “something broader, which concerns the effectiveness in the enjoyment of certain constitutional rights, as well as the interest in the economic development of the country”.
In short, the baroqueness should be over and now it’s up to the Municipalities. Calls for tenders and licenses are needed for NCCs, but in a cascade the issue cannot fail to consider taxis. competition should be guaranteed, and monopoli no longer admitted. A corporation of a few thousand people (less than eight thousand in Rome, where they are more numerous) has been bringing the freedom to access a public service under concession to its knees for years.
A year ago the minister Adolfo Urso he sang victory, after the approval of the “Asset” decree, claiming that he would “write to the over 60 mayors who will be able to immediately hold extraordinary competitions for new taxi licenses, without any constraints, in 15 days. That is 1,500 more licenses in Rome, over 1,000 in Milan”.
We do not doubt that he wrote. We contest the adverb “subito” and the numbers. In Milan the 700 participants in the call for 450 (not a thousand!) new taxi licenses they have not yet been able to start the tests. In Rome, the call for tenders for 1000 (not 1500!) more licenses is expected by the end of July. But in the meantime, the increase in tariffs has been decided.
In either case – in this terrible example Milan and Rome are similar: bad money drives out good money – we will have a drop in a sea of inadequacy. The city chronicles of Rome and Milan – but also of Bari and Florence – report daily the scandal of endless lines of users (residents and tourists) at train stations, airports or urban taxi stands.
All this in the substantial indifference of the municipal administration that plays the blame game with the national government, effectively making the cities hostage to a corporation that has prevented any form of innovation in the service, opposing any formula that proposed to offer an alternative to citizens and tourists: from Uber to the Nccat least so far.
In this the Consulta has been all too clear. NCC licenses cannot be compressed in the face of the inability of “public transport and taxi services to fully cover the mobility needs of the population”. Taxi And public transport line there remain two unassailable monopolies: both deriving from the public sphere, but one entrusted to a caste of untouchable private individuals, the other to public companies without competitive market comparison.
It is to be hoped that the Common take action quickly. Let us hope that the Constitutional Court’s decision on local public transport does not go unheard like the ruling of the Council of State regarding the inadmissibility of the lack of competition in the granting of beach licenses.
#Taxi #Consulta #brings #monopoly #castle #NCC #licenses #Municipalities