More controversy in Rome related to taxis. This time a Roman taxi driver ended up in the sights of Codacons after he refused to let the journalist Alessandro Cecchi Paone board his car. «No, I’m sorry, I can’t take it. I don’t want to take her, because she speaks badly of taxis”, said the taxi driver to Cecchi Paone who was waiting for the white car complete with suitcase in the central Piazza Campo de ‘Fiori. The scene was filmed by the taxi’s internal camera, and the video was published on Youtube by the same consumer association. When the TV host refused the ride he replied: “Very good, Uber will massacre you”, and the taxi driver concluded with: “Perfect, go on foot”.
«The refusal to carry out a compulsory public service by the taxi driver who left me stranded – declared Cecchi Paone, commenting on the misadventure in which he was the protagonist – is a concrete demonstration of how in Italy we need more competition in the sector, more taxi driver acronyms and more transport services like Uber.” Meanwhile, Codacons has announced that tomorrow it will file a complaint with the Local Police of Rome Capital, the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Capitol «asking to identify the taxi driver responsible for the serious gesture and to proceed for the crime of interruption of public service, increasing the sanctions provided by current legislation and evaluating the further disciplinary measures to be taken, including the suspension of the licence”.
The secretary of the Italian Radicals, Matte Hallissey, also intervened in the case, who only yesterday had organized a protest against taxi drivers at Termini station offering free rides to citizens with a car with the writing: “FreeTaxi – no more queues, no more lobbying”. “We are now on the proscription lists of a category that is characterized not only by its privileges – said Hellissey – by gang-like, violent and vulgar behaviour.”
