Mykonos: scandalous fines on passenger transport companies operating legally

Teams ΕΛ.ΑΣ. instructed to identify carriers operating without a license in Mykonos. However, in fact, completely legal companies were fined.

Huge fines have been imposed on legal tourist transport companies on the island of Mykonos, raising legitimate concerns about the legality of law enforcement actions.

In the fight against unauthorized activities of carriers that illegally offer transportation services to hundreds of thousands of tourists, ΕΛ.ΑΣ. seems to have overdone it, imposing fines even on legal entrepreneurs.

To understand the situation. According to the current legislation, two types of passenger transportation from one point to another are now allowed in tourist destinations. Those that are performed by taxis registered in the area, and those that can be performed by specially licensed vehicles hired with qualified drivers.

But there are scammers who, taking advantage of the huge number of tourists and the fact that legally licensed cars and ordinary taxis do not have time to meet demand, use unregistered cars to transport people. Of course, these are illegal drivers who have neither a license from the state nor legal documents.

During the last two weeks, the control group EL.AΣ. moved from Athens to Mykonos in order to restore order in the current situation. Only instead of imposing fines only on those who break the law, they also punish those who have legal permits. As a result, drivers who work in accordance with the provisions of the law have received heavy fines and are now trying to prove that they did not violate the law in any way and, on the contrary, fulfill all legal requirements for work.

According to reports, police officers have imposed fines, in particular, on passenger transport companies in Mykonos, which operate completely legally, through four different platforms, under the terms of the notorious “Spirzi Law”, which was voted by the Greek Parliament in 2018 and could be described only as pro-investment. That is, they maintain a minimum rental duration of 30 minutes, a minimum rent of 36 euros, and place information about each route they operate in the register of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport.

And it is no coincidence that in a recent recommendation EU considers the Greek legislation on passenger transport in the tourist areas of the territory, without naming it, as an example to be avoided in the provision of similar modern services. The problem is that police controllers in Mykonos impose simplified fines even on legitimate businesses, reaching hundreds of thousands of euros. Cause? Misinterpretation of the law, excessive zeal, or the Ministry of Citizens’ Protection ignores the adopted provisions of the Ministry of Investment and Transport.

I would like to believe that these fines will be canceled, and the enterprises will be justified, because they have all the necessary permits. However, it is possible that they will be forced to “close”. They will suffer huge financial losses, and the state, in turn, will lose income from taxes and social security contributions. In addition, countless tourists will not be served well, and hundreds of drivers and other employees may lose their jobs. But not everyone will be a loser. The only winners will be about 30 Mykonos taxi drivers and those who continue to work in the sector without a license. And what this means for the tourist product of our country, no need to explain, writes newsbeast.gr.

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