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The Facebook group “Driving Drammen-Lier” has about 10,000 members.
In the group, you can offer to ride, or ask to be shot, in and around Drammen.
The group administrator, who goes by the alias Jacob Anderson, has posted a post to the group, asking members to pay a fee of five crowns a month, possibly an annual fee of 50 crowns, to be a member of the group. .
If all members pay the fee, the administrator will earn between 500,000 and 600,000 crowns a year, just for managing the Facebook group.
– I spend a lot of my time following all the posts here in the group and keeping track, Anderson explains in the post.
It was Drammens Tidende who first brought up the case.
– greedy
The administrator further writes that he asks for the rate “just to improve the group.”
In the comment section of the post, several support the fee, but some are critical of the fee as well.
MEASURES: Several members of the group believe that the rate is a good measure, some others have more doubts. Photo: Screenshot / Drammens Tidende
– Is it a 100 percent position to lead this group? With a base of 500,000 a year, asks one of the members.
– Yes, actually it is, says Anderson.
The administrator has not responded to TV 2 inquiries.
To Drammens Tidende, Anderson tells him that he introduced the fee because “he wanted to see how greedy people are,” while also saying the group will soon have a new manager.
The actual paid post has now been removed. But if you want to join the group, you have to answer the question:
– Are you willing to pay a token membership fee?
Legislation
According to the Commercial Transport Law §4, one must have a permit to run a taxi business, that is, to charge for the transport of people.
But transporting people for free is not illegal.
– Escort driver groups are basically legal. It’s the transport of passengers to the public for a fee, the payment, that triggers the licensing obligation, says Anett Beatrix Osnes Fause, an associate professor at the UiT School of Law.
However, the lawyer also says that similar groups of friend drivers have been brought to justice for the business.
– In previous decisions on the subject, the Supreme Court has examined the actual conditions more closely. I think the courts here will also look at the reality and overlook, if the group actually offers passenger transportation for a fee.
– It seems strange that someone runs this business here eventually, without getting paid for it, says the lawyer.
Warns
The head of the Taxi Association, Hanne Skåle Thowsen, says that she is not familiar with the Facebook group “Driving Drammen-Lier”, but is aware of several similar Facebook groups.
He also says that he knows that some of these groups are used to organize pirate taxi activities.
– It is the police who have the opportunity to control taxis and all those who drive illegally. It is understandable that the police do not have the resources to control everyone, but we would like to see the problem given more priority, says Skåle Thowsen.
He also says that a car accident can be very expensive for a pirate taxi driver.
– They risk a huge amount. The insurance company can oblige the person in question to pay damages if a passenger is injured in an accident. Therefore, the driver can be left with a debt of several million crowns, says Skåle Thowsen.
Sold for thousands of crowns
Vicente Bergan Santana has previously led the group. He believes it is unreasonable for Anderson to request payment for the clerical work.
– I did not spend many minutes during the day answering messages in the group. So I think there is no valid reason to ask for the payment, he tells TV 2.
Santana says he “knows” that several people accepted the payment when he ran the group, prompting him to sell it for a sum of 10,000 kronor.
– And it probably sold for twice as much. I sold the group because I received messages from people who had experienced unpleasant trips or who had not received payment from customers. I started the group so people could get there safely.
