"I haven't paid myself a salary for three months.
With the increase in the price at the pump, my tank went from 70 euros to 130 euros.
I can't do it anymore”, breathes Rachid, VTC driver for three years, who announces that he wants to sell his car by the end of the month.
Like him, there were more than a hundred of them demonstrating this Monday at Place de la Nation in Paris (12th arrondissement) to alert the government to the precariousness of their activity, which has increased with the surge in prices at the pump in recent years. weeks.
Uber, the market leader, is also at the center of attacks for the high commissions it charges.
“We pay 25% to Uber on a ride and the prices on the platforms for customers have even dropped.
It is untenable for us.
We work at a loss”, denounces Toufik, 52, VTC driver for almost six years.
Read alsoFuel prices: diesel returns above 2 euros per liter
“We want a minimum price, hourly and per kilometer, negotiated between the government and the independents”, underlines Brahim Ben Ali, secretary general of the national inter-union VTC.
VTCs, which do not benefit from the aid of 400 million euros from the resilience plan intended for carriers, require “specific aid” to reduce the fuel budget.
They ask, for example, the establishment of a progressive energy check of 200 euros, depending on the evolution of prices at the pump.
“We have seen a lot of drivers run away from this profession which promised us to be our own bosses.
And even if the state helped us with the price of fuel, the other problem is that the platforms lower the prices of the races to attract customers, ”he denounces again.
In Nantes, around fifteen VTC organized a snail operation on the ring road.
VTC actions have also been planned in Bordeaux, Toulouse and Marseille between Monday and Tuesday.
The INV promises to accelerate the movement at the beginning of April with snail operations, in particular at Rungis.