According to the law, vans are not considered passenger vehicles and are therefore exempt from regulations governing taxis. Maxi-taxis are a phenomenon that has cropped up to take advantage of that loophole: vans outfitted with passenger seats.
So far, two entrepreneurs have entered the market with minivans outfitted as taxis -- thus avoiding the advantages, restrictions, and supervision of normal taxis.
"We are now planning that we will forbid this use in lorries in taxi business, and we hope that beginning next year we will give that proposal to the Finnish government and then to Parliament," says Juhani Tervala, Director-General at the Ministry of Transport and Communications.
Maxi-taxi firms are now vowing to take their battle to the European Court of Justice.
"No kind of monopoly belongs in the European Community. All taxis are asking the same price, which is the highest price they are allowed to ask," says Pekka Orava, the founder of Finland's first maxi-taxi company, Easy Cab. He feels that normal taxis are threatened because his cabs are slightly cheaper.
No Official Training or Supervision for Maxi-Taxis
But the Taxi Owners' Association says maxi-taxis jeopardise passenger safety. Maxi-taxi drivers are not licensed taxi chauffeurs. While licensed taxi drivers all have to attend the same course and pass the same street and safety tests, Easy Cab has set up its own training programme.
"Finnish customers are very used to reliable Finnish taxis, and now they don't know if it's a real taxi or is it this maxi-taxi. The drivers are not as skilled as our drivers," says Arto Marttinen, Managing Director of the Helsinki Taxi Owners' Association.
Cab drivers also accuse maxi-taxis of fishing for customers at taxi stands designated for official taxis. Maxi-taxis are not registered with taxi dispatches, so they roam the streets in search of clients.