The Finnish Taxi Owners Federation has rejected reforms of their business, proposed by the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (FCCA) on Wednesday. In a statement presented to the Ministry of Transport, the FCCA calls for an end to restrictions on the maximum number of taxi licenses. However the authority argues that permits should still be required.

“This is an old idea that gets dragged out of the naphthalene from time to time,” says taxi federation president Lauri Säynäjoki. “We don’t believe that this would result in lower taxi fares or better availability.”

According to Säynäjoki, Finland now has the lowest cab fares in the Nordic region.

If taxi legislation were to be overhauled, he warns, there is a danger that it could become more difficult to get a taxi at unprofitable times of the day or in sparsely-populated areas.

Minister of Transport and Municipal Affairs Henna Virkkunen takes a generally positive view of the FCCA proposal.

“There is a need for reform of the laws on passenger transport,” she said on Wednesday. She notes that the public sector spends about a billion euros annually on transporting people, including schoolchildren who are carried by taxis in many rural areas.