2023-05-25 03:09:42
VTCs will soon cost a little more. Since February, the unions representing the self-employed and the platforms (Uber, Heetch, Freenow, etc.) have been discussing to create a kind of “minimum hourly rate”, as for private sector employees. “It will be at least equal to the gross hourly minimum wage for a private sector employee,” says the boss of a major platform.
Since May 1, this gross hourly minimum wage has been at 11.52 euros. “This level will not be sufficient, warns Karim Daoud, president of the VTC association of France. We are not workers. As independents, we must be assimilated to executives. “We hope, for our part, that the hourly rate will be at least 15 euros gross. But we are not all in agreement between trade unions, ”adds Grégoire Leclercq, president of the National Federation of Autoentrepreneurs (FNAE).
Negotiations stumble over the average loads borne by a driver. Not everyone has the same status, nor the same expenses for fuel, insurance or loan repayment for the professional vehicle. “All this makes the subject very complex to find a common ground. We hope that the discussions will be successful in the coming weeks, ”says Joël Blondel, director general of the Authority for social relations of employment platforms (ARPE), responsible for organizing social dialogue.
Frequent race refusals
This “hourly rate” would be triggered as soon as a driver accepts a ride. “He won’t be able to just log into the app and shoot around town without taking on a client,” warns one platform. The rate aims to remunerate the self-employed during the “approach time”. Currently, when a VTC travels to pick up a customer, it is not paid, unlike taxis. Many drivers thus refuse errands, since they would take longer to pick up a customer than to drop them off at their destination. “We know that we would lose money, it is useless”, sums up Karim Daoud.
In fact, better remuneration for drivers will necessarily go through a “more or less significant” increase in the price of the fare. “We are considering taking part of it on our own. Not everything will probably be passed on to the consumer,” warns an executive. The platforms intend “not to slow down the market”, following the introduction of the “minimum price of a race”, in January.
After negotiations with the social partners, the agreement raised it to 7.65 euros net in the pocket of the driver, or 9 euros minimum for individuals, by adding the commissions of the various platforms. However, this had no impact on customer appetite. “We have absolutely not seen our activity reduced,” says Karim Daoud. The French understand very well that service has a cost”.
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