Cologne ride‑hailing fare regulation

In late July 2026 the Administrative Court in Cologne issued an urgent injunction that the city’s newly introduced minimum‑price rule for rental‑car‑with‑driver services (often marketed through platforms such as Uber and Bolt) is likely unlawful. The rule, which required fares to be no more than 20 % below local taxi tariffs and barred discounts that would breach that floor, was adopted on 1 June 2026.

The court identified several procedural defects: the mayor acted without required council approval, the regulation’s geographic scope extended beyond Cologne’s municipal limits, and the city exceeded its statutory competence by treating rental‑car services as taxis. As a result, the injunction temporarily exempts companies that challenged the measure—namely Drivewave and Bolt—from complying, while the rule remains suspended for other operators pending a possible appeal to the Higher Administrative Court in Münster.

The rulings underscore the tension between municipal efforts to curb price‑dumping in the ride‑hailing market and higher‑level German and EU legal frameworks. Similar minimum‑fare schemes in other German cities, such as Heidelberg and a previously halted plan in Essen, have faced comparable legal challenges.