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Uber, Heetch, Freenow... Customers will soon have to pay for the "approach time" of their ride

2023-05-24T17:11:53.881Z

Highlights: Since February, unions representing the self-employed and platforms (Uber, Heetch, Freenow...) have been discussing creating a kind of "minimum hourly rate" This "hourly rate" would be triggered as soon as a driver accepts a ride. Currently, when a VTC travels to pick up a customer, it is not paid, unlike taxis. "We know we would lose money, it's useless," says Karim Daoud, president of the association of VTC of France.


Platforms and unions have been negotiating, since February, on the price of a minimum hourly rate to pay for "approach times". This has


VTCs will soon cost a little more. Since February, unions representing the self-employed and platforms (Uber, Heetch, Freenow...) have been discussing creating a kind of "minimum hourly rate", as for private sector employees. "It will be at least equal to the gross hourly minimum wage for a private sector employee," says the boss of a major platform.

Since 1 May, this gross hourly minimum wage has been 11.52 euros. "This level will not be enough, warns Karim Daoud, president of the association of VTC of France. We are not workers. As independents, we must be assimilated to executives. "We hope, for our part, that the hourly rate will rise, at least, to 15 euros gross. But we do not all agree between trade unions," adds Grégoire Leclercq, president of the National Federation of Autoentrepreneurs (FNAE).

Negotiations stumble over the average charges borne by a driver. Not all have the same status, nor the same expenses in fuel, insurance or loan repayment for the professional vehicle. "All this makes the subject very complex to find a common basis. We hope that the discussions will be concluded in the coming weeks," says Joël Blondel, Director General of the Authority for Social Relations of Employment Platforms (ARPE), responsible for organizing social dialogue.

Frequent refusals of races

This "hourly rate" would be triggered as soon as a driver accepts a ride. "He won't just be able to connect to the app and run around the city without taking a customer," warns one platform. The rate is intended to remunerate the self-employed during the "approach time". Currently, when a VTC travels to pick up a customer, it is not paid, unlike taxis. Many drivers refuse rides, since they would take longer to pick up a customer than to drop him off at his destination. "We know we would lose money, it's useless," says Karim Daoud.

" READ ALSO The revenge of taxis: "The arrival of VTC has been a benefit for our profession"

In fact, a better remuneration of drivers will necessarily go through an increase, "more or less important", in the price of the race. "We are thinking about taking some of it on our own. Not everything will probably be passed on to the consumer," warns one executive. The platforms intend "not to slow down the market", after the introduction of the "minimum price of a race", in January.

After negotiations with the social partners, the agreement raised it to 7.65 euros net in the driver's pocket, or 9 euros minimum for individuals, adding the commissions of the different platforms. However, this has not had an impact on customer appetite. "We have not seen our activity reduced at all," says Karim Daoud. The French understand very well that service has a cost."

Source: leparis

All business articles on 2023-05-24

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