Labour inspector greenlights Uber over taxi drivers’ protests

Uber has celebrated the decision. Though a taxi driver representative agrees with the conclusion, he pointed out other problems with the service.

“The paradox is that I know of no business field in Lithuania where you can begin a business without following any sort of requirements, engage in it for about a year, and where the state then has to adapt to you, and not the business to the state. The state must think of a way to change its laws to fit the Uber model,” said Taxi Service Provider Association director Ričardas Kriukovas.

The VDI’s conclusion was that there was no basis, neither in the Labour Code nor in Administrative laws, for considering Uber’s relationship with its partner drivers to be work or even illegal work.

Kriukovas, however, argued that passenger transportation in Lithuania is regulated in two ways – either as taxi services, which Uber is not, or as charter services, which Uber also is not. “The other thing is payments, in which they do not follow the law at all, since all measuring and calculation equipment had to be metrologically evaluated. Uber uses apps that use GPS that calculate the trip’s cost. That function is like a taxi meter, but if you follow the letter of the law, that’s illegal,” said Kriukovas.