Recent barriers to Uber’s operations in Croatia have drawn attention from the Croatian Employers Associations.
Croatian Employers’ Association issued a call to Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure Oleg Butković and the government with regards to Uber, demanding that they change the regulations as soon as possible and adapt them to “new business models in the market of transport services in order to ensure clear and transparent business conditions for all businesses, as well as greater availability of these services to citizens”, reports Jutarnji List on December 12, 2016.
“The situation in which the government accuses certain employers through the media for allegedly conducting illegal operations, while these employers have not been officially warned by any competent institution about precisely which provisions they have violated and how, is not a practice we can support”, said Croatian Employers Association in a statement.
“Given that Uber has been operating on the Croatian market for a year, if its business model is really unlawful, then the question is how is it possible that none of the relevant institutions had not done anything about it for so long. The fact is that companies which base their innovative business models on digital platforms do indeed present a challenge to some traditional industries, and also to regulators, not just in Croatia but also in the European Union. The current situation, in which various inspections, after a public call by the Transport Minister, exclude certain service providers and businesses from the market, applying different practices of monitoring and issuing penalties on a case-by-case basis, is exactly an example of legal and business uncertainty which we should eradicate in Croatia, and not further encourage them”, said the Association.
Croatian Employers Association calls on the government to resolve the issue of the provision of transport services and car rentals with drivers, and “adopt adequate legislative framework, taking into account the equal position of all stakeholders in the market of providers of transportation services, and accepting the fact that there are technological innovations which bring new business models, in order to take advantage of their potential for strengthening the Croatian economy by encouraging new entrepreneurial initiatives and creating new jobs”.
The latest obstacles for Uber in Croatia appeared after Transport Minister Oleg Butković publicly said that Uber had been operation illegally in Croatia for a whole year. Interestingly, although the current government has been in office just a few weeks, Butković is one of a few ministers who remained in their posts from the previous government, which means that he had more than enough time to solve the issue of Uber’s operations in Croatia, one way or the other.
