The price per kilometer in a taxi in Prague will increase by 36 crowns, the entry rate will also increase
The price for one kilometer of a taxi ride in Prague should increase from 28 to 36 crowns. The price per minute of waiting will be replaced by six new seven crowns and the entry rate will increase from 40 to 60 crowns. The reason is that the maximum prices set in 2006 are no longer sufficient to cover all the costs of the taxi operator. This follows from the draft regulation on the price of taxi services, which is to be discussed by Prague councilors on Monday.
There will also be a new price list for taxi-electric cars, for which one kilometer will be able to cost a maximum of 39 crowns. The new prices are to take effect on April 1 this year. In the past, taxi drivers have been pushing for price increases in several protests.
The change is motivated by the fact that “the taxi service is provided with new safe vehicles at the best possible level, but also with high demands on economic operation.” To do this, taxi drivers need to make a sufficient profit, which, according to the document, current prices no longer allow them.
“The increase in the price per kilometer (…) represents a percentage increase of 28.5 percent since the last adjustment of the maximum prices in 2006, which makes it possible to sufficiently cover the operating costs of the operators,” the document said.
For the first time, the new price list also includes the regulation of the prices of taxi services operated by electric cars. The boarding rate for them will be 70 crowns, the waiting time seven crowns per minute and passengers will pay a maximum of 39 crowns per kilometer.
According to the material, the reason for prices other than cars with internal combustion engines is that the higher costs of the operator for the acquisition of an electric car paying for the performance of a taxi service do not offset its lower operating costs.
In the past, some taxi drivers protested about the price increase. Contrary to the city’s regulations, some of them then charged up to 99 crowns for one kilometer.
The maximum prices for taxis are also set by the municipality in Brno. The entry rate is 60 crowns, it is possible to charge a maximum of 30 crowns per kilometer around the city. Some taxi services also offer a rate of 25 crowns, for example, when ordering through the application, and not through the dispatch center, for people with a Senior Passport or for passengers who prove themselves with a Czech Railways ticket. The waiting minute can cost a maximum of five crowns and this is how most taxi services have it, exceptionally they charge four crowns.
The most common prices per kilometer in Ostrava are now higher than in Prague. For example, at City Taxi Ostrava a kilometer of driving costs 30 crowns, if a customer travels more than 100 kilometers outside Ostrava, he pays for 25 crowns. The waiting minute costs six crowns, the entry rate ranges from 30 to 50 crowns. Another Ostrava taxi service Taxi Venus charges 80 crowns for a ride of up to one kilometer, 40 crowns per kilometer for up to 50 kilometers, 30 crowns for up to 100 kilometers and 20 crowns for over 100 kilometers. The waiting minute costs six crowns and the entry rate is 20 crowns.
At the same time, the Chamber of Deputies is now working on an amendment to the Road Act dealing with the conditions for operating a taxi service. The rules for taxi services thus appear to be simplified in favor of alternative carriers. Taxi vehicles will no longer have to have a taximeter, but mobile applications will suffice. They will have to be equipped with a registration sticker, not a roof lamp. Municipalities will not be able to dictate the color and size of cars.