Plans by the Infrastructure, Transport and Networks Ministry to prevent taxi drivers from proceeding with the third in a series of incremental increases in their charges, due to come into force in May, has provoked the ire of cabbies in Athens and elsewhere.

“Let anyone who wants to just dare to revoke the third increase,” the president of the Association of Attica Taxi Drivers (SATA), Efythimios Lymberopoulos, told Kathimerini, stressing that his union’s members would resort to strike action to secure the right to raise their fees.

According to sources, planned changes by Minister Dimitris Reppas, who met with industry representatives yesterday, also include depriving taxi drivers of access to bus lanes, a privilege which the previous conservative government had introduced in the capital in July as a pilot program. The measure was quickly embraced by the city’s cabbies but ministry sources said that it created problems on roads.

Meanwhile there are reports of tension between cabbies in Athens and in the rest of the country regarding the third scheduled fare increase in May. According to sources, drivers in the provinces welcome the ministry’s plan to revoke the hike as they claim to have seen their takings drop and believe that another increase in May, after last Sunday’s hike, will only make things worse. However cabbies in the capital are adamant that the third increase should be enforced as planned and threaten industrial action if this is obstructed. “We are used to taking to the streets in protest and if we need to we’ll do it again,” Lymberopoulos said.

Taxi charges increased last Sunday, with the fare charged per kilometer rising to 0.60 euros from 0.48 euros. In May, another hike will bring taxi charges to 0.72 euros per kilometer. These incremental increases followed a “gentleman’s agreement” reached in April between unionists representing taxi drivers and then Transport Minister Evripidis Stylianidis. The then minister had stressed that cabbies would have to earn these fee hikes by cleaning up their act, improving treatment of passengers and cutting out common violations such as overcharging and taking on multiple passengers.