Uber is available again in Barcelona
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Uber, the controversial transport service that competes directly with taxis, returns to Barcelona after three years of absence. With a fundamental change: its drivers need an official permit without which they will not be able to operate. This is the same permit that they already use in the Madrid capital and that all rental car companies with drivers (VTC) must carry.
Barcelona will once again have Uber service
All this due to the multiple pressures that the taxi drivers' union has exerted on companies such as the aforementioned Uber or Cabify.In 2014, the situation of these companies was unsustainable in Spain, and they were forced to leave the country. Now, Uber will operate in Barcelona under its UberX service, the company's professional modality, unlike Uberpop. In Madrid, Uber has been operating under that name since 2016 and all drivers have a VTC license. There is no difference between the UberX and Uberpop services, their name simply conforms to the legal framework of the country in which the service operates.
Likewise, each and every one of the UberX drivers must be registered in the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers, or establish themselves as a company in order to carry out the job. Uber will review that each of its workers has these requirements, in addition to that each of its vehicles has a VTC license. Of course, it will also verify that the traffic insurance is up to date and that the drivers have no criminal record
If you have never used the Uber application, it is a simple to use and very intuitive service. The application has a real-time map where you are located as a passenger. You only have to enter your destination: the available cars and the rates that will apply to you will then appear. It is a fixed price per destination, not per passenger. In other words, if the trip costs you 5 euros and you are 3 passengers you can divide the journey among yourselves Payment is made by card, whose data you will have entered before in the application.
Taxi and Uber, price difference?
In Barcelona, the minimum fare for UberX is 5.05 euros. That is, if the journey costs less, you will be charged that fixed amount. If you cancel a trip that has already been requested, you will be charged a cancellation fee for the same amount of 5.05 euros. The price per minute of UberX is 0.16 euros and the price per kilometer is 1.42 euros The taxi fare in Barcelona, on a normal non-holiday day, is 2.15 euros (a charge that is paid yes or yes for the simple fact of requesting the taxi service) and the price per kilometer, always on a weekday, is 1.13 euros: that is, the price per kilometer in a taxi it is 0.29 euro cents cheaper. Of course, UberX does not have a flag drop and its prices are the same both on a Monday morning and on a Saturday at 4 in the morning, although demand can change the price.
In the Uber application we can rate the driver once the trip has been made (he can also do the same with us). On successive trips we will see a photograph of the driver, the model of the vehicle and its license plate. If you want to download the Uber app now that the service has returned to Barcelona, just go to this link in the Play Store.
