Vienna taxi operators demand higher fares as diesel prices hit record

Vienna’s taxi industry is calling for a new fare tariff and relief from mineral oil tax as diesel prices climb to around 2.30 euros per litre, according to ORF.

Resul Ekrem Gönültas, head of the taxi sector at the Vienna Chamber of Commerce, said rising fuel costs were creating a difficult situation for the industry. Some operators would not survive and were preparing to leave the business, he said, while others were using their reserves to keep going.

Vienna’s transport companies face similar pressure. Wolfgang Böhm, head of the city’s transport operators, said higher fuel costs had to be passed on to customers, but only to a limited extent. If companies could not raise their prices, they might have to take trucks off the road, he said, warning that this could eventually affect supplies to food retailers.

Böhm said the fuel price brake was not enough to offset additional costs in commercial freight transport. He called for transport companies to be exempted from mineral oil tax. Emergency services, including the Vienna Red Cross, also support an exemption for emergency vehicles.

Taxi drivers are seeking the same tax relief, but above all want the current taxi tariff to be increased. Gönültas said Vienna had not adjusted the tariff since 2023, leaving operators without prices that allowed them to run their businesses sustainably.

Vienna’s finance councillor, Barbara Novak of the Social Democratic Party, said a plan was currently being prepared.