He also faulted the decree for building on outdated regulations from the 1980s. Uber will continue to support its drivers, by legal means, if necessary, and stands by its target to double the number of Uber cars in Hungary to 2,000 by the end of 2016, he said.

Uber has launched its services, available through smartphone applications, in more than 200 cities around the world. For rides in Budapest, the company advertises a base fare of 300 forints and a 130-perkilometre fee. Under a local council decree in force from the autumn of 2013, the base fare for taxis operating in Budapest was set at 450 forints and the per-kilometre fee of 280.

The decree, which also laid down strict requirements for vehicles, aimed to create transparency on the market and weed out unscrupulous drivers. Uber has raised the ire of the capital’s taxi drivers and has also come under the scrutiny of tax office NAV.

Source www.hungarymatters.hu - Visit Hungary Matters to sign-up for MTI’s twice-daily newsletter.