Uber to fully launch in Wallonia on 1 December

American mega-corporation Uber will expand its Belgian operations to Wallonia from 1 December, following the reform of the taxi industry there.

The platform had previously announced the launch of its UberTaxi product, reserved exclusively for "station taxis" - meaning ones that wait in designated taxi areas, as opposed to "street taxis" which can pick up riders from anywhere - in Mons, Liège, Namur and Charleroi.

This was the only product it could launch until now, given the ban on all platform-affiliated street taxis, which will be lifted when the new reforms come into force at the start of next month.

The UberX service, which has already been operating for 10 years in Brussels and four years in Flanders, will then be expanded to the whole of Wallonia.

The application will be open to all drivers holding a street or station taxi licence, with new legislation giving a clear status to platforms such as Uber.

The reforms also create an additional type of licence for street taxis, as is already the case in Brussels and Flanders, which Uber Belgium’s Lauren Slits said should increase the number of drivers available on the app.

Pricing will differ for Wallonia. Slits said flexible fares would allow prices around 50% lower than those calculated by a traditional taxi meter, leading “to greater popularity of the service and therefore higher revenues for drivers”.

Uber’s expansion plans have been met with sharp criticism from those who say the insecurity and exploitative nature of platform work is out of line with Belgian labour standards, as well as the traditional taxi sector which considers platforms such as Uber to be unfair competition.

“When Uber arrived on the Brussels market, the platform started by ‘hitting on’ drivers by charging very low commissions,” said Sam Bouchal, former general secretary of the Brussels Taxi Federation.

“Today, they go up to 35%. These charges are unsustainable for drivers. Uber is mortifying for our sector. I don't see any profitable prospects for the profession. Uber is very strong technologically, but it's going to do damage socially.”

Even Uber is not fully happy with the taxi reforms. Slits said that to be able to take customers throughout Wallonia under the new legislation, a driver would need to hold 262 different licences.

Bouchal maintains, however, that the legislation is fairly flexible and that the licenses do not pose problems in practice.

“You can't park in the town while waiting for a customer, but if I drop a customer off from Charleroi to Fleurus and he asks me to make the return journey, I can wait for him and pick him up,” Bouchal said. “As soon as you have a license, you can work anywhere in Belgium.”

Slits also complained about limits on the number of taxi drivers allowed in a region, but Bouchal said municipalities issue licences according to the number of parking spaces and that limitations are not an issue in Flanders because of low demand for taxis from a platform company.

“In Flanders, there are fewer self-employed drivers and more companies with a large number of taxis,” said Bouchal.

“The Flemish have got into the habit of going through these companies, so Uber's rollout there has been a complete flop.”