Eindhoven Municipality is finding it difficult to take action against illegal taxis. This is according to the Council’s Executive Board.
In 2018 and 2019, the Executive Board made €50,000 available to hire more special investigating officers. An example of the functions of these kinds of officers is to deter unlicensed taxis from offering services at official locations. “But,” the Executive Board says, “unfortunately, the officers that are deployed can, of course, not be present everywhere at the same time.”
Illegal taxis
Especially at events such as Carnaval, many taxis are not regional and therefore have no affiliation with the local Authorized Taxi Organisation. There is also competition from services like Uber. Regulations do not allow these taxis to park in the designated taxi parking bays. Nevertheless, they tend to wait there when customers order them. Thus, any taxi driver parking illegally can make the excuse to the investigating officers that a customer has ordered them.
According to the Municipality, it is challenging to control such practices. Furthermore, the investigating officers do not have the official authority to take action against these illegal taxi drivers. These powers belong to the Human Environment & Transport Inspectorate and the police.
Eindhoven Airport
The investigating officers currently also have no jurisdiction to act in the vicinity of Eindhoven Airport. However, unlicensed taxi contractors are regularly active there. Currently, only the Royal Netherlands Military Police (KMar) is allowed to supervise the procurement of taxi transport at the airport. But because the KMar focuses primarily on other core tasks, it cannot tackle these contractors.
The Eindhoven Municipality will shortly adjust its General Local Regulation. It will soon be possible for special investigating officers to operate at Eindhoven Airport in and around the terminal building.
Source: Studio040
Translator: Nicole Cullinan
Editor: Melinda Walraven
