Joint teams of the Bucharest City Hall and the Traffic Police will carry out “extensive” controls to see how the taxis in the Romanian capital are currently conducting their activity.

The checks will take place at Bucharest’s entry and exit points, as well as in crowded areas, mayor Gabriela Firea announced on her Facebook page.

“Let’s not forget that the citizens’ safety is a priority for everybody, and that companies operating in Bucharest must understand that they have both rights and obligations, one of the most important requirements being the one related to respecting the authorization,” Firea said.

Bucharest City Hall also wants to update the regulation based on which taxis operate in Bucharest. The regulation sets out clear conditions taxis must respect to operate, from the way the authorizations can be taken, to the ways the cars can be replaced under the same authorization, and how the dispatches operate. Once completed, the document will be put up for public debate, and will be submitted for approval to the General Council. The regulation was previously updated in 2009.

“It’s imperative to come up fast with concrete solutions so that the taxi transport in Bucharest is carried out at high standards of quality and safety. I wish that the mistrust and uncertainties that persisted so far in the relationship between the local authority and operators of taxi services would become history,” Gabriela Firea said.

Moreover, the mayor wants the taxi legislation to also regulate the new online booking apps that currently exist on the Romanian market.

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Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com