Ride-hailing app Bolt expands to Italy to shake up underserved urban transport market

Ride-hailing app Bolt launched operations in Milan on Wednesday in the first stage of a push to shake up the Italian urban transport market, which its CEO told Reuters remains heavily underserved despite the presence of U.S. rival Uber UBER.N.

Estonia-based Bolt will work with hundreds of drivers in Milan - either official cab drivers or private hire car drivers - and expects to service millions of rides in the first year, said founder and Chief Executive Markus Villig.

"The market in Italy is at an early stage. We have a long-term view," Villig said in an interview, adding that Bolt intends to later expand elsewhere in Italy to tap into its huge tourism industry.

"We can bring better product and better service to customers, and we are here today to help drivers get more income," he said.

With its latest foray into Italy, Bolt now operates in 26 of the European Union's 27 member nations.

DESPITE TRANSPORT SHORTAGE, APPS FACES PUSHBACK IN ITALY

Italy's ride-hailing sector is still governed by a 1992 framework that strictly separates licensed taxis from chauffeur-driven hire vehicles, with local authorities tightly controlling the number of taxi licences.

Critics, including Italy's antitrust authority, say the system has created chronic shortages and long wait times in major cities that regularly leave tourists and locals stranded.

While Uber has operated in several Italian markets for over a decade, Italy, like other European countries, does not allow ride-hailing services that rely on drivers without commercial licences. And attempts to reform the sector have faced strong opposition from taxi unions.

Before Milan approved 450 new licences last year — the first major expansion since 2003 — the city, which boasts a metro area population of roughly 3 million, had around 4,853 active taxi permits.

"There are not enough drivers for the demand in Italy," Villig said. "The market would grow in Italy if the regulator clears the path for new suppliers. It would develop differently."

He said he does not expect Bolt to make any profits in the country within the next five years and is, meanwhile, asking regulators to open up the Italian market.

Ride-hailing apps have long been a flashpoint for Italy's taxi industry, with attempts to expand their services repeatedly triggering strikes and street protests by drivers, particularly in Rome and Milan.

Many taxi drivers still view app-based platforms as a threat in a sector built on fixed municipal fares and limited licences, making the issue one of the most politically sensitive battlegrounds in Italian transport.

Three Italian taxi drivers told Reuters that the arrival of another ride-hailing app would trigger pushback and protests from unions.

"We work with a meter and fares set by the municipality because this is a public service," one driver said. "Instead, apps set their own prices, take commissions and pay drivers weeks later. That’s not fair competition."

-Reporting by Inti Landauro and Mirko Miorelli; Editing by Joe Bavier/Reuters