Greece’s Council of State (CoS), the country’s highest administrative court, this month quashed a transport ministry decree obliging minibus operators hired via the Uber BV platform to submit a contact two hours before the lease is due to begin.
The latest instance of bureaucratic high-handedness was ruled unconstitutional by a majority of the justices on the CoS tribunal hearing an appeal made by companies which lease minibuses along with a hired driver.
Such vehicles are increasingly popular in busy tourist areas in Greece for transporting larger groups of visitors – in this case up to nine.
After the ruling, the vehicles generally described as minibuses are still not allowed to pick up new customers en route, or from parking lots and rest areas. Instead, they have to be pre-booked, though they are no longer obliged to report the booking, the route to be taken etc. on an online platform.
