Munich court suspends minimum fares for Uber and Bolt

A Munich court has temporarily exempted five ride-hailing companies from the city’s minimum fares, finding the rules likely unlawful. BR24 reported that the main proceedings have yet to take place.

The Administrative Court of Munich granted five companies’ urgent applications against the fares set by the city in a general order. The rulings mean the companies do not have to follow the minimum prices for now.

The rules, in force since July, tied ride-hailing prices to Munich’s regulated taxi fares: a base fare of 5.90 euros and 2.70 euros per kilometre. They also applied to trips into and out of the city.

The court said the order was likely unlawful as a whole because Munich had applied it beyond the city’s jurisdiction, and that part could not be separated from the rest.

The city said the rules were introduced after Munich’s main customs office found that providers were violating labour and social regulations “almost across the board” and regularly breaching minimum-wage law. Taxi drivers had demonstrated, calling for fair competition and minimum fares.

The industry association wirfahren welcomed the decisions, saying municipalities exceed their authority when they set minimum prices for trips outside their boundaries. Uber said the ruling confirmed its view that minimum-fare rules were legally untenable and called on Munich to withdraw the order in full.

Bolt said demand fell by 44 percent in the month after the rules took effect, and that about 40,000 fewer trips took place. The company said many people had stopped using the service because of higher prices.

Munich’s district administration department said it had conducted spot checks on compliance but would not disclose the results while court proceedings were under way. Ride-booking service Freenow said its market monitoring found that about half of offered trips were priced below the legal minimum, with differences between providers.

The city said taxi businesses had reported that the minimum fares had a noticeable, if slight, impact on them. Freenow, by contrast, described a clear positive effect on traditional taxi businesses. wirfahren argued that minimum fares create legal uncertainty, threaten jobs and businesses, and put a burden on residents.