Because of fraud in the rental car industry, the state of Berlin has imposed six-digit fines on several driving services that operate through Uber, Bolt and Freenow. This was announced by the Senate Transport Administration in response to a request from the Tagesspiegel. The penalties for the companies would be “between 265,000 and 550,000 euros”. At first he had Tagesspiegel newsletter Checkpoint reported on it.
In a similar case, the state had already imposed a fine of 500,000 euros on a company in August 2022 for a “particularly serious case of illegal rental car operations”. At that time, between August 2021 and March 2022, the company made more than 100,000 trips with around 160 vehicles without having the necessary approval.
Businesses drive their customers without a permit
The allegations are similar in the new cases. “As in the first case, it was also possible to prove here that rental car trips were carried out by the respective companies without the companies being given the appropriate approval for this,” said the spokeswoman for the Senate Transport Administration, Sara Lühmann.
In the public perception, the taxi-like rental car business is shaped by the big providers Uber, Bolt and Freenow, also because many cars with their logos are on the road in the city. However, the companies themselves do not carry out any journeys. The platforms only act as intermediaries between users and rental car companies who drive on their behalf.
Apparently, however, it happens again and again that the rental car companies do not have the necessary approval from the State Office for Regulatory Affairs. “It is particularly difficult to provide evidence of these illegal activities because the companies provide the mobility platforms with false information about the vehicles,” said Lühmann.
Further procedures for fraud in rental cars are already underway
Since the platform operators would cooperate with the state of Berlin and would support its investigations, the machinations could be “gradually uncovered and subsequently punished”.
However, the recent cases of fraud may not have been the last in the often-criticized industry. “There are still other administrative offense proceedings pending on suspicion of unauthorized passenger transport, but the investigations are still ongoing,” said the spokeswoman.
There are currently 4321 rental cars in Berlin. Since the end of 2021, their number has remained relatively stable. Unlike the Berlin taxi trade. Also because of the steadily growing competition from Uber and other driving services, the number of vehicles has fallen by several thousand in recent years. There are currently 5,406 taxis on the streets of Berlin.
