Andorran taxi groups stall on unified platform as Uber enters market

Fifteen days after the two taxi associations in Andorra said they had moved closer to operating from a single platform in response to Uber’s arrival, disagreements have resurfaced and the plan’s immediate implementation looks uncertain.

A meeting scheduled for Sunday between the Association of Andorran Taxi Drivers (ATA) and the Interurban Taxi Association (ATI) to explore an alliance with the platform CityXerpa did not take place after the ATI declined to participate.

ATI president Armand Godoy says the ATA’s roughly fifty members must first reach an internal consensus on what they want; only once that direction is clear will meaningful talks be possible. The ATI also prefers the platform it already uses, Taximés, which supplies taximeters and roof lights and, in its view, offers strong functionality.

Godoy said ATI would consider a joint solution in which Taximés and CityXerpa collaborate, because “we want the best for the collective,” but emphasized that the association is waiting on the ATA’s decision.

From the ATA, president Víctor Ambor says no decision has yet been taken on a possible alliance with CityXerpa; he expects the association to decide sometime this week or next.

Beyond the platform dispute, ATI leaders express broader concern about Uber’s entry into the Andorran market. Godoy described the sector as cautious and said permitting the multinational’s service lacked sufficient prior study and protections for the existing taxi industry, calling the process a collective mistake that included failures within the sector itself.

ATI also highlights limited market space and worries about job security where traditional taxis and VTC services coexist; it wants to focus on internal unification and says efforts to create a single national taxi platform are proving more complicated and time-consuming than anticipated.

For now, both associations remain at an impasse: ATI waits for ATA consensus, while ATA prepares to deliberate on the platform choice, leaving the timing and terms of a unified service unresolved.