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Summary for: Prague restores taxi fare caps after complaints about high pricesPrague has restored maximum fares for metered taxis following customer complaints about excessive charges, reversing the removal of price controls earlier this month.
From Wednesday, Oct. 21, the maximum charge is again CZK 42 per kilometer and CZK 7 per minute of waiting, city spokesperson Vít Hofman told the Czech News Agency.
The reinstatement applies to metered taxis. It does not restore price caps for app-based services such as Uber and Bolt, whose separate regulation was removed by the Finance Ministry at the beginning of 2025.
Customer complaints prompt a rapid reversal
Hofman said the city reviewed the consequences of removing the caps, particularly the volume of complaints from passengers about disproportionately high fares.
Market forces alone had not provided sufficient protection against excessive charges, he said.
The city described restoring maximum prices as an urgent measure in the public interest. Following consultation with the Finance Ministry, the new price order took effect the day after publication.
As Expats.cz previously reported, Prague abolished its metered taxi price controls from Oct. 1, raising concerns about the return of overcharging associated with the capital’s taxi trade.
The repeal came just two months after the city increased the maximum distance charge from CZK 36 to CZK 42 per kilometer on Aug. 1. The Taxi Drivers’ Chamber had described that increase as insufficient.
Wednesday’s decision restores the kilometer and waiting-time limits in place before the October repeal. These are maximum permitted charges, rather than prices every operator must charge.
Dispute over who authorized the original change
The reversal leaves questions about how the caps were removed in the first place.
When the city administration canceled the previous price order, it said the decision had been made by Prague’s political leadership. Deputy Mayor Jaromír Beránek of the Pirates disputed that account.
Beránek said taxi price regulation had, for almost two years, been handled through an administrative measure issued by the city’s Department of Taxes, Fees and Prices, rather than a City Council regulation.
He said he had requested supporting documents for further discussion in municipal committees, rather than the immediate abolition of price controls.
The Czech Confederation of Commerce and Tourism welcomed their restoration but called on the city to explain publicly why it had removed them.
Spokesperson Šárka Mrázová said criticism and passengers’ experiences had prompted the administration to reverse its decision. The organization also urged Prague to increase inspections of conventional taxi services, warning that some operators might resist returning to the limits.
For passengers, the immediate change is that metered journeys once again have regulated kilometer and waiting-time rates. App-based fares remain under a separate pricing framework, so the reinstated ceilings should not be treated as universal limits covering every taxi booking in Prague.
