Local arrest is the result of a bitter dispute that flared up in Rose on Thursday, between taxi drivers and the intermediary company of the transport project, which works with Uber. The man was identified for his involvement in incidents involving damage and injury to a person associated with the company, police said. In the case against him, there are elements of a criminal organization, violation of public order, the threat of committing a crime, causing dangerous bodily harm, damage to other people’s property and threats.

“They can’t take the law into their own hands”

“Taxi drivers smashed Uber cars and beat drivers. Three people were injured, one with a broken leg, ”a person familiar with the facts of robberies and vandalism of vehicles, who wished to remain anonymous, told K. According to the testimony of “K”, as well as local media reports, a crowd of people – about 700 drivers – moved to the company’s headquarters in protest. Some of them entered the territory, causing damage worth many thousands of euros to at least 10 cars on the basis of unfair competition. The prosecutor’s intervention was immediate while the company filed a complaint.

According to the information, the transportation intermediary company that works with Uber started its work on Tuesday, and according to the same person who requested anonymity to speak with “K”, “from the first moment there were incidents, bandits on the street, until taxi drivers , they illegally stopped drivers to check their data.”

“Taxi drivers can’t take the law into their own hands,” say sources close to the company, K, which in a statement speaks of a climate of terrorism reminiscent of practices in Mykonos.

“Over the past 24 hours, unimaginable acts of threats, beatings, blackmail and sabotage by an organized and controlled group have taken place on the island of Rhodes, catalyzing all concepts of the rule of law and legitimate economic activity,” the report says. “We will not tolerate unlawful acts by third parties against our employees and property. We will not accept the climate of terrorism that they are trying to impose with actions reminiscent of those that took place on the island of Mykonos in March 2023.”

“We condemn what happened, but we will not allow bread to be taken away from us”

“These were not some strangers, let’s be honest,” the president of the Rhodes Taxi Owners Association, Theodosius Castanidis, told K for his part, commenting on the first reports of an “attack by strangers” and claiming that there was no beating, only vandalism. “We will bear the consequences, this is not a problem,” he emphasizes. “We condemn this incident, but we will not let them take our bread,” says Panagiotis Kontos, president of the Rhodes Taxi Drivers Association. “I can’t talk more about what happened because the police are investigating, but we are vigilant,” he adds.

Mr. Kontos claims that after looking at the mobile phone of a client who used a brokerage company at the airport, he found that the fee was less than the prescribed amount of 36 euros, which represents unfair competition in the industry. “We are drivers who make a living, we wait for the summer to work for three months,” he says.

“They work like predators,” insists Mr. Castanidis. “We were under the impression that they would come and cooperate with taxis, but they charge minimal fares and steal from customers through the taxi rank,” he says, while he claims that all of the island’s transport professionals (tourist buses, minibuses and rental cars with or without a driver) oppose the work of this particular company. “The taxi drivers of Rhodes have been awarded for the quality of their services,” he adds.

“The legislation of 2018 prohibited the activity of transport intermediary companies, but even after the law was amended in 2019, such companies did not operate in Greece,” said Themistocles Amblas, president of the Federation of Transport Trade Unions of Greece. says K. The Rhodes-based company is the first in the country to provide Uber-standard transportation services while charging passengers lower fares, Mr. Abla said.
“The federation is against the existence of such brokerage companies that are contrary to what is established by the state and the interests of the professional class of drivers who do not earn a living in any other way,” Mr. Ablas emphasized, adding that passengers should be “cautious” as drivers in brokerage companies do not have a professional driver’s license and do not meet the conditions under which taxi drivers work.

As for doubts about the legality of its activities, the company refers to “fake news” in a widespread statement. “We categorically deny them and declare that our company has a legal license and fully complies with the institutional framework of its activities.”