More than 100,000 people in Luxembourg open the Uber app and close it again immediately every year. From mid-June, these tourists and other businessmen and women will be able to find an offer.
“We started Webtaxi in 2012 with 30 taxis. We came onto the market with the idea of having transparent prices, knowing the fare before the journey. Today, we’re proud to have a fleet of 203 vehicles but we’re always looking for new opportunities.” So Émile Weber Jr, the seventh generation of those who have made Voyages Emile Weber a success story, got in touch with Uber. “When we went on holiday, we noticed that Uber had formed partnerships with taxi companies,” Weber explains at the head office in Canach, where even the employees had not yet been made aware of the announcement.
“We started talking a few months ago. Quite quickly, we realised that there was a way of doing something that would be a win-win for everyone, for Webtaxi, for Uber--for us, it’s obvious as it allows us to enter the market--but also for passengers. There’s a demand not only from international visitors, but also from drivers,” explains Uber director Laurent Slits, who was present to make the partnership official. This will “enable us to generate more journeys and therefore more income for our active drivers. It’s the perfect equation: we have direct access to a large number of quality drivers who can be put in touch with passengers.”
It was on holiday that Emile Weber Jr realised that Uber was forging partnerships with taxi companies. He invited Laurent Slits and the American giant to work out a partnership. The deal was announced on 3 May 2024. Photo: Marie Russillo/Maison Moderne
Drivers respect all the rules
“For both our drivers and our customers, nothing will change,” says Weber Jr. “Our customers will still be able to pre-book journeys via the internet or their phone. We were looking to expand our customer base. This application is a very good one, used in many countries, and is synonymous with security and quality. These are our values.”
The partnership will break the deadlock with the Luxembourg authorities, as the drivers are all licensed and therefore in compliance with all legislation (payment of social security contributions and pensions, plus authorisation to drive). “On our Webtaxi platform, there are currently 203 licences and 270 taxi drivers. Around sixty are directly employed by our group and the others are members and have their own bosses. They are checked by us to ensure that they comply with all the regulations. They are the ones who will also be on the Uber application,” explains Weber.
“In short, they have one more application offering them rides,” says Slits. “Second, we make sure that we are 100% compliant with local regulations. It’s true that it makes our lives a lot easier when a recognised company can guide us.”
“There are very different customer groups: Luxembourgers or those who live in Luxembourg and use Webtaxi will continue to use Webtaxi. The idea was to allow tourists, ‘internationals’ or business people who were visiting Luxembourg and didn’t know Webtaxi to be able to open up with all the benefits that go with it and to have access to Webtaxi drivers,” explains the Uber director, a former lawyer with Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and then consultant with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
Fares not yet fixed
And the price? “In Luxembourg, there’s the population density aspect, which is different from that of the big cities, and the social security aspect--and our drivers earn a better living than in those cities. For a similar 15-minute journey, such as Luxembourg-Mamer, the driver has to return to the city to get his next journey, which will take him 35 minutes. The price of 35 minutes under Luxembourg law... In Barcelona, the same journey will be followed by another two minutes later and sometimes even earlier. If you compare that, the prices in Luxembourg make sense,” says Weber.
“At this stage, in all transparency, we have not yet set the prices on the Uber application,” replies Slits. “When you think about the right price, there are the differences between cities and countries. There are also the passengers who would like to pay less and the drivers who have to find their way around. You have to find the right price to stimulate enough demand and make it worthwhile for the driver. Sometimes the driver will earn more, sometimes less to stimulate demand.”
“We’re not going to deny the fact that price is important,” he continues. “If it’s too expensive, fewer people will use it. Today, to say that the price of Uber is always lower than the price of a taxi is no longer entirely true. In Brussels, the regulations governing taxis and VTCs [voiture de transport avec chauffeur, or passenger car with driver] are identical. There’s also the ease and safety, the promise of our apps.”
“What we both have in common is that the person getting into the vehicle knows the fare,” adds Weber Jr. “We have around 40% of the market. That means that customers want to drive with us and drivers want to drive for us. It’s a source of pride for the family. It’s a source of pride for the company. It’s also an opportunity to make the taxi market more attractive in Luxembourg.”
“Limiting the numerus clausus of drivers is dangerous,” continues Slits. “When there’s a new entrant--we’re going to bring in demand--it’s obvious that this demand is going to want to be satisfied. They’re going to want to find a driver at the right price and under the right conditions--without waiting too long. Limiting licences can do a lot of harm to the whole sector because if customers don’t have offers, they’ll turn away from taxis.”
“If our collaboration puts an end to the random prices sometimes charged at the airport because tourists don’t know the prices in Luxembourg, everyone will win, especially the taxi market,” concludes Weber Jr.
The deal means that Uber will receive a retrocession of the revenue from the trips, under terms that the two companies have kept secret.
This article was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.