Kostis Hatzidakis for taxi: We are going to tighten deadlines – in 5 weeks the POS markings must be placed

They narrow the margins for drivers as they are invited to place special markings inside the vehicle that will inform citizens of the obligation to accept payments through, within the next 5 weeks, according to the KYA that were annexed by Deputy Finance Ministers, Christos Dimas and Thanos Petralias. According to the announcement of the Ministry of Finance, such a tightening of the procedure was required because the Panhellenic Taxi Federation (WITH) refused to receive the special POS payment signs in order to distribute them to its members and then paste them on their vehicles. It is recalled that these signs were produced by AADE, at zero cost for taxi owners and meet the specifications of corresponding markings installed in taxis of many other European cities (Barcelona, Stockholm, Budapest, Madrid etc.). At the same time, the Joint Ministerial Decision provides for the obligation to distribute special labels by the Panhellenic Taxi Federation (POIETA) and in the event of a re-negotiation of them, then the distribution by local associations is foreseen. For those associations that refuse to facilitate taxi operators, receiving and distributing to them the labels produced by AADE, the obligation to produce labels is provided by the responsible taxi owners themselves, at their own expense and in accordance with the specifications set by AADE. Those taxi owners who refuse to comply with the provisions of the law are expected to impose a fine of EUR 1,000 per infringement. Minister of National Economy and Finance Kostis Hatzidakis said: “No one is above the law! Taxi representatives had an obligation to receive and then distribute the special marking informing customers of the obligation to accept payments and via POS. The refusal to receive the marks – free of charge produced for taxi professionals by AADE – in practice means refusal to apply the legislation. I will not simply be an observer of illegality nor am I willing to close my eyes in cases of denial of law enforcement. That is why we are going to tighten up the deadlines and the overall procedure so that at most 5 weeks from now the taxi professionals have implemented their obligation. An obligation that also applies to many other countries in Europe!”. In detail, the procedure and strict timeframes provided for the supply and installation of specific markings shall be analysed as follows: Professional taxis must have stuck the sign on the taxi vehicle that they operate within 3 weeks of receiving it from the Panhellenic Taxi Federation (POYTA) and the unions that are members of it. The AADE shall send a written invitation to the WTOIATA for the receipt of the labels and the latter shall, within five working days, notify the receiving person and how the labels are received by the competent AADE service. In the event of a refusal by the Panhellenic Federation or a non-practice expiry of the five-day deadline, the primary unions shall be obliged, within 10 days of notification of the non-practice failure or refusal by the Federation, to inform the AADE digitally by e-mail at [email protected], that they will receive these signs for the debtors of their region, stating the recipient and how they wish to receive them. Methods of receipt are either from AADE facilities or by sending by courier at their own charge. In this case, a time limit shall be set for affixing the labels to 3 weeks taxi vehicles from the date of receipt of the markings. In the event of a refusal of acceptance by an association or an irregular expiry of the 10-day period, the parties shall ensure that the label is produced in accordance with the specifications set out and then proceed to attach them to taxi vehicles within 3 weeks of the expiry of that 10-day period. Within 5 days of the expiry of the deadline, the primary associations which received signs are required to send to the AADE a list of the debtors who received those signs together with the registration number of these vehicles.