Comment by cabinpark | Hacker News Reader

Comment by cabinpark | Hacker News Reader

It doesn't surprise me in the least. Germany is a country of insane regulations and rules. They absolutely love paperwork - all the Germans apologized to me when I first moved here and set everything up - and have a very strict way of operating. The American way of doing things, as the article briefly mentions, is very different. I'm not saying it is better or worse, just different. This is a cultural thing that doesn't magically change overnight. I know I still get annoyed at how different things are sometimes compared with back in North America, but that is the way things operate here and you have to learn to play the game otherwise you will lose.

The credit card thing is also true too. Cash is king here and I routinely see people with hundreds of Euros of cash like it is nothing. I always see people paying for groceries with 100 Euro notes. Furthermore, I know Germans are much more concerned with personal security and privacy that there is also going to be a push back about having to share personal information with an American company.

Also I live in Frankfurt, and, to be honest, I have no idea why people even use taxis. To get from the Hauptbahnhof to practically anywhere in the city is only a < 20 minute U-Bahn ride. Also, the public transportation in Europe tends to be insanely good and efficient so a ride-sharing app will also have to compete with this as well.

Uber's problem is different. Uber-like services have been legal in Germany since pretty much forever (and many cities don't even have a cap on medallions for a straight-up taxi service). But Uber's business model is built around evading regulatory costs that their competitors have to deal with, and this is where Germany isn't budging.

First, a chauffeur's license is required to operate a taxi (or bus, or ambulance). This license is actually pretty straightforward to get and runs only to a few hundred Euro (renewable after five years), and the requirements are reasonable (no criminal record, good health/vision, knowledge test). These costs are a pittance for a normal taxi business, but pretty steep for a private person who only wants to moonlight as a driver every so often.

Second, insurance. There are strict insurance requirements for cars, and a private insurance generally does not cover commercial use of a car; Uber, for some reason, has been unwilling to foot the bill.

Third, taxis have to undergo annual roadworthiness tests (private cars are only required to have them every other year).

Overall, these are mostly pretty sensible regulations that are primarily concerned with passenger safety and welfare. So there is little interest in cutting back on them. But Uber's business model isn't compatible with that.

Really? I've helped a couple european companies setup US operations and they all complain about the over-regulated and bureaucratic approach in the US. They find tax and immigration paperwork, and I mean literal PAPERwork, very unsettling.

I guess it depends. Setting up a business in Germany might be easier (haven't done it so I don't know, but there's a good startup culture in Berlin so I guess it's possible), but as someone who has lived in Berlin I know there's a lot of pain and procedure to get set up as a resident, get a bank account, and so on.

As an example, to find somewhere to rent on your own, you need a German bank account to pay your rent with. To get a German bank account, you need to register as a resident with a specific address. Supposedly you need to do that within 14 days of entering the city, but when I last looked the wait to book an appointment online to register was a couple months.

Germany also loves paperwork.

Want to setup a farm, as farmer? You’ll have to register with the Katasteramt, Tierseuchenfonds, the Sozialversicherung für Landwirtschaft, Forsten und Gartenbau, and most of them require you to tell them the same stuff 3 or 4 times.

Germany could improve a lot in bureaucratic things.

My mum – working in the emphasized agency – often has to actually call the other agencies frequently to check their data (as it’s often inconsistent)

The famous database class lesson of "duplication always leads to inconsistency" doesn’t seem to have been heard by the people who administrate this stuff.

As an Australian I have to agree. The USA bureaucracy is like the old joke about having the requirements of the Germans with the efficiency of the Italians served with the helpfulness of the English.

In my experience, immigration stuff is easier in Germany but everything else is easier in the US.

It depends. There's a ton less bureaucracy involved with a blue card in Germany compared to an H1B visa in the US; on the other hand, the requirements for (say) a fishing license in Germany are borderline ridiculous [1].

[1] http://fishinggermany.jimdo.com/taking-my-german-fishing-lic...

That actually doesn't see that bad. It's effort, but at least it is predictable and clearly laid out ... very German imho. In the US things are generally more opaque, requiring experts (lawyers, even lobbyists) to explain how various agencies actually operate. Without that advice, most of the paperwork is either incorrect, unnecessary, or won't ever allow your issue to progress.

Try looking up the procedures for an EB-5 visa application. They don't mention that, since the prez made certain statements re deportations, the immigration people are going nuts. Each and every step is being examined as if your client was trying to export uranium.

And then the taxi companies actually provide a neat app which tells you how much the ride will cost, and allows you to book from your phone directly in Germany (taxi.eu).

It’s hard to justify uber when they have the same comfort, same prices, but treat employees worse, and refuse to operate within the same laws.

Uber only has advantages in the areas where they can provide cheaper prices, and they often can only provide these by breaking rules (like the insurance in the beginning) or by mistreating employees (which they classify as "subcontractors". This Scheinselbstständigkeit is going to lead to legal issues for uber in the future, too).

And, additionally, while local taxi companies can operate on small margins – and the profit ends up back in the local economy – Uber has investors at Wall Street to please, and their profit ends up in New York, not in the local economies.

> Germany is a country of insane regulations and rules. ... I'm not saying it is better or worse, just different.

Even if you didn't mean to say it, you did, and likely thought it. I recommend improving your delivery. :)

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