Â鶹APP

The Cost of Convenience: Uber’s Premium Prices in Rome

Despite the rumours and word on the street, Uber is not illegal in Rome. Uber launched in San Francisco in 2010 quickly evolved from a limo-hailing service to one that relied primarily on individual professional drivers with their own cars, fueling its expansion across continents.

By 2012, Uber was operating across the US and in three cities in Europe. However, cities around the world had long-established laws that intended, mostly, to ensure the safety of taxi passengers and, according to those laws, in many places Uber’s business was illegal.

The rumours about Uber being illegal in Rome and the larger Italy vicinity were spread by taxi drivers who felt that Uber was undercutting their business. Taxi drivers protested in Rome against a government proposal to regulate the digital ride-hailing industry that would establish a national registry for non-licensed drivers using an app to pick up passengers.

In Italy, cities including Rome issue a set number of taxi licenses annually, which can cost up to 200,000 euros, forcing drivers to stay on the road for years to pay it off. This is what caused the unrest among the drivers.

See also

Travel

Are you Ready! The Roma Diffusa is happening in Historic Center, Rome

In 2017, there were several taxi strikes in Rome to protest the app because its drivers did not have to undergo the process of obtaining the expensive taxi license required for taxi operations in Rome. As a result of protests, Uber was temporarily banned in April 2017. However, the company quickly appealed the ruling and it was swiftly overturned. 

The caveat of this is that though it’s legal to use Uber in Rome, it’s not the regular Uber. Only Uber Black, Uber Lux and Uber Van are available for use and they are quite expensive as compared to a regular taxi. Because of the unavailability of UberX, Uber in Italy tends to be more expensive than taxis on average. There is also often high demand and regular surge pricing in Rome.

As a result, Uber remains legal to use in Rome but only allows Uber Black and Uber vans because drivers must have the town car NCC license in order to operate. Practically speaking, Uber in Rome is hailed as a limousine service, the price adjustment is double what a regular cab costs. 

Another addition is that it allows users to call a cab from the Uber app in Rome. The transport giant integrated the existing taxi-hailing app itTaxi into its platform. You can therefore use Uber’s payment mechanism to pay for any cab that you order by this method while in Rome. When you use this feature, you’ll get a regular cab with regular cab charges. 

So despite all the mixed information, you can indeed use Uber in Rome, but that is the extent to which Uber runs in Italy. If you’re going for more pocket-friendly taxi options in Rome, you can use MyTaxi, which sends the closest taxi to your location. Welcome Pickups which works best for airport pickups and Scooterino that will send a scooter driver with an extra helmet to pick you up at your location.