Taxi drivers protested in Rome against Uber and the government.
Matteo Hallissey, president of the liberal +Europa party and the Italian Radicals, was attacked by an angry group of taxi drivers during a protest outside parliament in Rome on Tuesday.
The incident occurred during a national strike, called by 18 unions representing cab drivers, who are demanding stricter regulations for multinational ride-hailing apps.
The 24-hour strike saw taxi drivers across Italy protest the government, accusing it of failing to keep its promises and favouring the entry of multinationals such as Uber by liberalising the sector.
Taxi drivers staged a protest in front of Palazzo Montecitorio, throwing smoke bombs into the piazza and chanting “Uber, Uber, Fuck off”.
Hallissey, 22, arrived in their midst carrying a sign saying “No more lobbying” and holding a POS machine which he offered provocatively to taxi drivers, who are regularly accused of claiming their electronic payment system does not work, in order to receive their fare in cash.
The sight of Hallissey provoked a wave of insults and threats from the taxi drivers who chanted “Piece of shit” in his direction before turning violent, prompting the politician to leave the scene.
“They chased us across the piazza and attempted to outrun the police to reach us, spitting and kicking”, Hallissey told reporters, adding: “Multinationals already operate in all European capitals and in Italy alone they must be subject to enormous constraints because of this 25,000-strong lobby.”
Calci, sputi e minacce da parte dai tassisti. Ecco cos’è accaduto oggi alla manifestazione a Roma. @matteohallissey pic.twitter.com/zfPNEPlauh
— Ivan_Grieco (@Ivan_Grieco) January 13, 2026
The strike was called by unions against the government amid demands for “clear rules for digital platforms, preventing the excessive power of algorithms” and protection of taxi services as a local public service “in the face of the aggressive entry of multinationals.”
“Taxi services are regulated by rates set by the municipality, with checks, safety obligations and specific responsibilities towards users” – Nicola Di Giacobbe, coordinator of Unica Taxi Filt Cgil union said – “Today, this model is being challenged by the aggressive entry of private multinationals, which aim to replace a public service with platforms driven by algorithms and profit-driven logic”.
Taxi drivers are particularly targeting the decree regulating digital intermediation platforms, which was put on hold by the transport ministry following criticism from the European Commission, newspaper Domani reports.
In the meantime, the protest by the taxi drivers has prompted transport minister and deputy premier Matteo Salvini to convene a meeting with representatives of the sector on Wednesday.
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