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Uber expands into Italy’s taxi market with new partnership

Uber on Friday launched a new partnership with Italy's biggest taxi dispatcher, meaning it’s now possible to hail a cab via the app.

Published: 29 July 2022 16:43 CEST

Uber expands into Italy's taxi market with new partnership

Rome's residents and visitors now have a new option when booking a taxi. Photo by JavyGo on Unsplash

The new service was launched in Rome on Friday after the city became the first in Italy to agree to allow Uber to enter the local taxi market, according to Italian media reports.

While the ride-hailing app does exist in Italy, it’s currently only available in Rome and Milan – and only in the form of the more luxurious Uber Black.

READ ALSO: Why can’t I get an Uber in Italy?

The usual, cheaper Uber service is not allowed to operate in Italy, due to concerns about unfair competition for taxi drivers. The update on Friday doesn’t change this.

But the new addition to the app in Rome does mean the city’s residents and visitors have another option available when booking a cab.

Taxis can be summoned via the app, which gives an estimate of the cost upon booking. However the final price of your journey will be determined by the taxi meter.

It should soon be possible to book a taxi via Uber in dozens more towns and cities across Italy under a deal made in May between Uber and dispatcher IT Taxi.

READ ALSO: Rome vows to crack down on ‘rip-off’ airport taxis targeting tourists

However it’s not clear exactly when the service will become available in more cities, with local taxi drivers’ unions across the country reportedly still fighting to block the approval of the agreement.

Rome’s taxi drivers staged a series of protests in recent weeks against the planned expansion of Uber and a new decree containing provisions for deregulating the highly protected taxi sector.

Uber’s move came days after local authorities in Rome pledged to crack down on overcharging by unscrupulous taxi drivers operating at the city’s airports.

Member comments

Anonymous - 5 August 2022 at 12:23 CEST

Uber Black is available in more than Rome and Milan now. I noticed ads for Uber in Bologna Airport recently and I checked and it is available in the city. It definitely wasn’t available when I first moved here so I don’t know when it started in the city.

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Why are flight prices higher in Italy than the rest of Europe this summer?

Italy may be at the start of a summer tourism boom, but that’s no thanks to the cost of its airline tickets, which are higher than ever this year.

According to a recent analysis in Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, intra-Europe fares from June to September 2024 are down three percent on average compared to the same period last year – but Italy’s flight costs have risen.

The average price of a summer flight between Italy and the rest of Europe has increased by seven percent since 2023, data shows, while domestic flights cost as much as 21 percent more.

Corriere doesn’t offer much of an explanation for the hikes, though says industry sources say it could be down to demand being higher than anticipated.

READ ALSO: How Europe’s new EES border checks will impact flight passengers

It’s true that supply chain issues have reduced the available fleet of global aircraft at a time when the appetite for international travel is as high as ever – but this is an industry-wide problem that shouldn’t disproportionately affect Italy.

Carmelo Calì, the vice president of consumer rights watchdog Confconsumatori, suggested in a recent interview that the main culprit is a lack of healthy competition in the Italian market.

“Despite what is said to the contrary, in our country companies often find themselves operating at airports practically alone,” Calì told consumer publication Il Salvagente (The Lifejacket).

“Even when there is competition, prices remain high, because the race is upwards and not downwards.”

The high price of Italy’s domestic flights have been a point of contention for years, with consumer unions long complaining that fares for tickets between mainland Italy and the major islands are exorbitant.

Italy’s Price Surveillance Guarantor Benedetto Mineo, who officially goes by Mister Prezzi (‘Mr. Prices’), last summer called on the seven main airlines operating in Italy to account for a 40 percent annual increase in the cost of some key domestic routes.

READ ALSO: Why two Swiss to Italy flight routes are ‘the most turbulent’ in Europe

This was followed by the government announcing a price cap on flights connecting Sardinia and Sicily to the Italian mainland – that it promptly shelved just one month later, after budget carrier Ryanair led a furious pushback by low cost airlines.

“Here companies believe they have freedom that they don’t have elsewhere, convinced they can get away with it, while in the rest of Europe they fear being punished,” said Calì.

That may explain why the EU’s competition watchdog has been so slow to approve a proposed partial takeover of Italy’s national flag carrier ITA by Germany airline Lufthansa.

The Commission has repeatedly insisted that Lufthansa must give away a certain number of its slots at Milan’s Linate airport in compliance with EU competition rules in order for the deal to go ahead.

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