Espoo-based taxi firm Kajon, which has expanded from the metropolitan area to other parts of the country, has filed for bankruptcy at Western Uusimaa District Court, the company announced on Thursday.
Part of the company had previously filed for corporate restructuring in January, but when the coronavirus crisis brought the taxi business to a virtual standstill, revenue flows came to a halt, according to Tapani Eronen, Kajon’s president and CEO.
Eronen said in a statement that the concern had no choice but to file for bankruptcy.
In addition to regular fares, the taxi firm also had contracts with the military and educational institutions. The company employed about 400 people along with around 100-150 franchise entrepreneurs.
When Finland deregulated the taxi industry in the summer of 2018, Kajon expanded its operations and also began serving communities beyond the Helsinki region. The company’s turnover was around 20 million euros last year.
In January it was reported that the average price of a taxi ride in Finland had risen by an average of around 13 percent since the sector’s deregulation. At the same time, the number of taxi licences issued had doubled in some of Finland’s larger metropolitan areas.
Edited on 17 April 2020 to reflect the firm is based in Espoo, not Helsinki.