Back from evenings, back from work… VTC drivers are always there, a few minutes away from your smartphone.
With the reconfinement of 16 departments, the movements of their inhabitants will change.
“
Confinement without a necessary travel certificate is more interesting than the curfew, in terms of races.
Customers are more afraid during the curfew.
What surprises me the most is that despite the curfew, 60% of my customers are workers.
They leave work between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m., they work in banks, architectural firms or consulting firms.
I have only been checked 3 times since October,
”says Abdel Kader, 35-year-old private driver.
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To achieve the same turnover as last year, the driver had to increase his hourly amplitude by 40%.
“
Before the crisis, I achieved 35 to 40 euros in turnover in one hour.
Today, if I reach 25 euros, I'm satisfied,
”he says.
To cope with the decline in activity, instead of waiting long hours in their cars, many drivers have chosen to stay at home by keeping their cellphones connected to the application.
“
Many drivers are in psychological distress.
We estimate the decline in activity at 90% with the reconfinement,
”deplores Ben Ali Brahim, secretary of the national inter-union of the VTC.
So much so that one of the options considered by the drivers is to stop working entirely.
Sylvain, a 55-year-old private driver, has preferred to stop driving his customers since October to protect himself from the coronavirus.
"
Why would I go to work when the state pays me all of my turnover?"
I prefer to protect myself by staying at home and not incur new expenses such as gasoline.
We see the limit of this fund when we ask ourselves the question of going to work or not,
”he admits.
A relatively widespread phenomenon among VTC drivers receiving assistance from the solidarity fund.
“
Many stop working because of the lack of clients but also to protect themselves from the coronavirus because some clients do not want to respect health rules and do not wear a mask, for example.
The drivers who continue to work are the ones who do not receive assistance.
They have no choice,
”said Ben Ali Brahim of the national VTC intersyndicale.
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Financial aid is in fact provided to them to support them during this period.
From March to October 2020, VTC drivers could receive monthly aid of 1,500 euros via the solidarity fund, when their turnover experienced a drop of more than 50% compared to the previous year.
Aid deemed insufficient by the unions representing drivers.
"
We have demonstrated so that VTC drivers are considered as a sector related to the tourism sector to benefit from increased aid
", explains Ben Ali Brahim.
VTC drivers included in the S1 list of the tourism plan
They were heard since since October 2020, VTC drivers have integrated the S1 list of the tourism plan allowing them to receive assistance of up to 10,000 euros per month, for drivers recording more than 50% loss of turnover. business.
“
This aid mainly allows them to pay their fixed charges such as insurance and monthly rental payments for their leased car.
It allows them to get their heads out of the water but they don't have much left afterwards,
”emphasizes Ben Ali Brahim.
The loss of turnover is calculated in relation to the turnover achieved over the month concerned in 2019. For drivers who started in 2020, the aid is calculated over the months of 2020 which generates a lot of aid. weaker.
The aid does not apply to companies that started their activity after October 31, 2020. “
Otherwise it would generate business creations just to be able to receive the aid.
It makes more sense that way
, ”recognizes Ben Ali Brahim.
To be able to receive this assistance, drivers must also have all their tax data up to date and that the payment of their pre-crisis tax obligations be made in full.
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Since the Covid-19 crisis, the “
Transport and storage
” sector including VTC drivers has received 1.4 billion euros through the solidarity fund.