140 Brussels Uber drivers will soon resume working in the capital

A judgement from the Belgian courts concerning the emergency taxi ordinance implemented in Brussels that disallowed many Uber drivers from operating in the capital will soon see some of them returning to the streets.

Brussels Minister-President Rudi Vervoort made the announcement on Friday in the Brussels Parliament, Belga News Agency reports. The only drivers able to return to work are those who submitted their application for an LVC (chauffeur) permit after 15 January 2021 and meet the other conditions of the emergency ordinance.

The Constitutional Court had previously suspended the 15 January 2021 hurdle date in the emergency ordinance on the grounds that it violated the principle of equality and non-discrimination and the freedom of enterprise, and that the drivers concerned suffer a hard-to-recover disadvantage because they lose income as a result of being unable to work.

The emergency ordinance was intended to serve as a stop-gap between an effective ban on Uber and reform of the taxi sector, which presumably will include space for self-employed drivers with the American tech-giant to work alongside traditional cab drivers.

Vervoort said that the draft ordinance on the official Taxi Plan was returned from the Council of State with few comments and will be submitted to the Brussels government “in the coming weeks” for final approval. According to the timing of the Brussels government, that plan should enter into force at the latest on 22 July.

(KOR)

© BELGA PHOTO NICOLAS MAETERLINCK