BlaBlaCar is in the crosshairs of bus employers
It seems that the relatively new transportation businesses don't end up falling out of favor wherever they go. If the case of Uber has been heard around the world where their legal problems have led them to become a delivery company of food to be able to continue operating in Spain, now it seems that it will be BlaBlaCar which has made a few enemies.In his case, in the bus sector And the fact is that the collaborative economy seems to be an affront to the classic transport business.
According to what is echoed in Xataka, the bosses Fenebús He has been requesting the closure of BlaBlaCar for months, a service that has been operating for several years in Spain under a simple idea: share a journey with strangers going to the same place. Thus, BlaBlaCar acts as an intermediary, using its service to put a driver in touch who He lends seats in his vehicle and to people who want to get to a point In this way they can share the expenses of the trip such as gasoline or tolls, resulting in a journey more personal, comfortable and in many cases, cheaper than public transport. Something that would be generalizing and doing a lot of damage to classic businesses such as buses.
According to Fenebús, the BlaBlaCar service would operate in competition unfair for several reasons. One of them is acting as a travel agency and advertising as such when it does not have the licenses to do so, thus violating the regulations. In addition, driversdrivers do not have licenses to transport passengers, placing responsibilities on the travelers who accompany them. In addition, they ensure that BlaBlaCar has profit motive, leaving aside the concept of economy cooperative that sells to the gallery by requesting between 15 and 20 percent commission on the trip All this in private vehicles not approved for the transport of travelers publicly.
However, BaBlaCar defends itself by relying on its criteria, which do seem to be based on the concept of sharing economyIn this way, it is the driver who sets the price of transport for passengers, but always according to maximum margins set by the service for avoid profit. In this way, the expense in fuel and tolls is usually calculated, trying to cover the expenses of the trip if shared with three people. Until now, the use of a private vehicle to share expenses without profit is legal, allowing the transportation of relatives. In fact, BlaBlaCar echoes the statements of the Ministerio de Fomento that affirms that the shared expenses don't count as compensation, so it wouldn't be illegal.
It seems that the new alternatives, either through applications for smartphones or web services continue to jeopardize regular transport businesses.And it is that the competition does not suit them at all, especially when it allows reduce costs to travelers, choose the driver , find out in advance if they can bring pet and choose music, among other amenities.
