Delivering a review on the impact to the Luxembourg taxi market of the new law, which entered into force in September 2016, minister François Bausch talked about the mass removal of so-called “rogue taxis”.

But, he said that the law had not resulted in a drop in prices; on the contrary, prices rose 11% over the last four years. “The offering has diversified with large operators offering innovative services in terms of advance booking and flexible pricing, taking into account factors such as traffic,” Bausch told parliament on Thursday.

He said that customers were increasingly aware of their rights and were more inclined to submit claims where they felt their rights had been infringed. In 2017, the complaints desk received 273 complaints in relation to things such as inappropriate driver behavior, failure to take the shortest route to increase the rate.

He further said that zero emissions licences were a “great success” and the reorganisation of taxis from 44 municipalities to six geographical zones had found favour with operators.

The main thrust of the taxi reform was to clean up an area which had been open to abuse for many years and make it more transparent.

Cleaner taxis & digital upgrades

Discussions are now underway to table another bill on taxis before the summer, which would include the creation of a single national taxi zone. This would apparently allow for a more rapid balance between supply and demand, the minister said.

Some MPs raised concerns this would lead to a shortage in rural areas, but Bausch disagreed.

New proposals would also seek to integrate digital tools into the sector, for instance through electronic receipts, to enable credit card payments and unbilled waiting times, and perhaps the boldest, to only offer new taxi licences to low or zero-emission taxis.