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EU: Taxify launches in Paris after being kicked out of London

By  |  October 5, 2017

Ride-hailing service Taxify has launched in Paris, one month after being banned in London. The company said it was “fully committed” to complying with local regulations around private hire cab firms.

A rival to Uber, Taxify is trying to attract drivers by offering a lower commission fee on fares of 15%. The company is also offering 50% off fares for the month of October. Taxify claims it has 2,000 Parisian drivers on its platform already, according to local newspaper Le Figaro.

It isn’t clear yet whether Taxify might run into the same regulatory issues in Paris as in London. But France’s taxi union, the UNT, is already gearing up for a fight, according to local media, saying that the “name of the app will create confusion in the mind of the consumer.”

The argument is one similarly made against Taxify by black taxi drivers in London — that the word “taxi” can only be used to describe taxicabs, as opposed to minicabs. The UNT said it had appealed to France’s competition authority.

Full Content: Le Figaro

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