Filenews 30 January 2026 - by Vassos Vassiliou
Professional taxi drivers are calling for stricter legislation to tackle piracy, at a time when many of the pirates come from the ranks of professional taxi drivers.
This paradox was referred to before the Parliamentary Committee on Transport, where the problems of taxi drivers, who recently went on strike and are preparing other mobilizations, were examined.
It is characteristic that out of 137 fines imposed in 2025, 70% come from professional taxi drivers and the remaining 30% from individuals.
During the discussion, it was also found that regarding pirate taxi drivers there are probably more than twice as many as licensed taxi drivers. It is worth noting that while there are 1,538 taxi licenses, taxi drivers seem to exceed 5,000.
The number of illegals also seems to be increasing from the fact that (for their own reasons) professional taxi drivers, after their retirement, use their private vehicles to run races. For them, the transition to piracy is relatively easy, in the sense that their decades of activity have helped them gain a significant number of customers, whom they still serve. At the same time, there are also the "normal" pirates, locals and foreigners.
According to representatives of organized city taxi drivers, one of the most important problems they face is the operation of websites through which, mainly tourists, book taxis at the expense of professionals. Besides, platforms (through which one can book a taxi) violate the provision regarding the restriction of each driver in his province. In other words, when a taxi driver starts to transport a customer from Limassol to Larnaca Airport, a suggestion was made to stop the signal broadcasting so as not to book another customer for the return, stealing the customers of his colleagues operating in Larnaca.
On behalf of the Licensing Authority, Ms. Americanou stated that a bill is being promoted according to which, when a platform advertises a private vehicle to provide taxi services, it will face consequences.
These include a fine and when this is not paid, his professional license and registration certificate will not be renewed or even his vehicle will be confiscated.
Regarding the treatment of piracy, he argued that the existing legislation worked to a satisfactory degree, although he acknowledged that gaps were found. One of them concerns platforms that have private vehicles for the provision of taxi services.
The president of the Committee called on Ms. Americanou to submit the bill as soon as possible, to get the answer that it will be submitted from Monday.
However, the president of the Pancyprian Federation of Urban Taxis, Mr. Constantinos Constantinou, stated that when he appeared at trial, as a witness, for a piracy case, he was told that he could not testify, something that only the customer could do. As the president of the taxi drivers characteristically said, the customer, who happened to be a tourist, may have been in Russia or anywhere else at the time of the trial.
The other phenomenon observed is the emptying of Nicosia by taxis, especially during the summer months, when Nicosia drivers head for coastal towns. As a result, passengers in the capital cannot be served. As he characteristically mentioned, calls (for taxis) that are not served in Nicosia can be around 1,000 per day.
A representative of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism observed that the tourism model in Cyprus has changed and while in the past the tourists who arrived in Cyprus individually were limited to 30%, today they have increased to 60%, so the needs for the use of taxis to transport them from airports/ports to hotels, accommodation, etc. have also increased.
On behalf of the Department of Road Transport, Ms. Pipi agreed with the need to deal with piracy and suggested that the Police can also help in this.
