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TAXI

France launches own ‘Le Taxi’ app to rival Uber

The French government has launched the app "Le Taxi" for Paris taxi users in a bid to challenge the popularity of Uber. Disgruntled Uber drivers, meanwhile, have also launched their own app to compete with their employers.

Published: 19 October 2015 17:24 CEST
France launches own 'Le Taxi' app to rival Uber
Could France's taxi system overtake Uber in the app stakes? Photo: AFP
The French government on Saturday launched the beta version of a new app – Le Taxi – which allows users to book a cab using the internet and geo-localisation. 
 
The move comes as a result of the Thévenoud Law from October, in an attempt to resolve conflict between private minicabs and France's cabbies.
 
Users of Le Taxi will be able to “e-hail” a cab and then rate their experience, explained the government online (in English as well).
 
Sound familiar? Of course it does – this is just how it works with Uber, the main competitor to French taxis in a battle that has seen violent protests across the country from cab drivers who are furious to be losing business to the California-based company.
 
 
The government believes that the Le Taxi is the solution, and that its app can outpace Uber thanks to the sheer number of potential drivers who can sign up. 
 
Indeed, the government hopes to sign up some 50,000 of the nation's 57,000 cab drivers, which would make the app a far cry more popular than Uber which only operates in eight cities in France, boasting just 10,000 drivers in Paris compared to the 17,700 cab drivers. 
 
But it remains unclear exactly how many taxi drivers will use the service, which will be fully rolled out at the end of the year.  
 
Uber announces 20 percent fare cuts in Paris

(Uber is facing stiff competition in Paris. Photo: AFP)

Liam Boogar, the CEO of Rude Baguette, France's start-up blog, is convinced the tech idea won't work. 
 
“It's not enough to be just a copy of a concept,” he toldThe Local. 
 
“The big issue they'll have to deal with is that so many customers will say that they're already in the habit of just opening the Uber app.”
 
He noted as well that the idea might not take off if cabbies are reluctant to share their data with the government, adding that the rating system could be a put off to drivers with a notorious reputation for being unfriendly and taking the longer routes for unsuspecting passengers. 
 
Uber drivers, meanwhile, are busying themselves an app of their own that has been put together in protest of their employers. Paris-based drivers are angry at the recently introduced fare reductions of up to 20 percent, with the minimum fare now dropped from €8 to €5 (from $9.10 to $5.70).

 
A spokesperson said that the new app, called VTC cab (“VTC” is how France refers to private minicabs), is “made by the VTCs, for the VTCs, and run by the VTCs”. 
 
The app was created thanks to a €130,000 grant, courtesy of 30 members of France's VTC Association. 

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BUSINESS

Why you’ll soon be able to set up a company in Spain with just €1 rather than €3,000

The Spanish government has approved a new draft law that will allow companies to start up with just €1 and for the process to be carried out quickly and entirely online.

Published: 4 August 2021 13:32 CEST
Why you'll soon be able to set up a company in Spain with just €1 rather than €3,000
How you can start a business in Spain for just €1. Photo: Javier Soriano/AFP

Currently, you must have to have a minimum of €3,000 to form a Limited Company in Spain, but if passed, the new bill will require you to only have €1, allowing the process to be completed electronically in just 10 days.

By doing this, the law includes measures to diversify sources of financing and promote non-bank financing, on which the majority of companies depend.

The bill’s main objective is to remove obstacles in the creation of companies in Spain.

The draft bill also looks at expanding activities for which you won’t need to obtain a license and promotes the use of electronic invoicing between companies and the self-employed, which will contribute to the digitisation of business activities.

Another aspect that the bill covers are ways to support financing for business growth, such as venture capital and crowdfunding platforms.

The Vice President and Minister of Economy and Digital Transformation, Nadia Calviño, has indicated that this is one of the “most important” structural reforms of the Recovery and Resilience Plan which Spain submitted to the EU, and is aimed at “improving the performance and productivity of companies, as well as job creation “.

Defaults are one of the main problems that threaten business solvency for many Spanish companies because invoices are often not paid by the maximum legal term of 60 days. This problem particularly affects the self-employed, who allow large companies to take much longer to pay invoices for fear of losing more work or damaging relationships in the future.

For this reason, they do not usually demand legal compensations such as recovery costs or indemnities, even though it puts pressure on their margins.

To combat the wide non-compliance with this maximum period between companies, the new bill also suggests an incentive system for meeting payment deadlines and implementing electronic invoicing.

Together with the Startups Law and digital nomad visa, which the government also recently proposed, it aims to promote entrepreneurship and tackle the problems faced by Spanish companies, which makes it difficult for them to grow, go international or restructure debt.

READ ALSO: Tax cuts and special visas: Spain’s new law to attract foreign startups and digital nomads

Spain ranks only number 30 out of 190 in the World Bank’s ‘Doing Business’ report in terms of business climate, behind many other EU countries.  

The bill is expected to reach the Congress of Deputies at the end of this year and if passed, will come into force in 2022.

COMPARE: Could Spain become the best country in the EU for digital nomads?

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