In December 2025 and January 2026, the city police of the public order office checked a total of 45 rental cars that were traveling in the Frankfurt city area. There were complaints of various kinds in 39 cases. Most of them concerned passenger transport law because the drivers were illegally standing by to pick up passengers. Unlike taxi drivers, rental car drivers must return to their place of business after transporting a passenger. The city police officers also noticed that the majority of the rental car companies in question were not based in Frankfurt am Main, but came from the surrounding area.
The other defects identified were partly of a technical nature. In some cases, the main inspection had expired or alarm devices and high-visibility vests were missing. Some drivers were unable to present the required passenger transport licenses and licenses or did not have a serial number attached to their car. There were also warnings for violations of road traffic regulations, which were punished on the spot. According to the public order office, there are now numerous administrative offense proceedings pending that are still at the hearing and investigation stage. It is therefore not yet possible to say anything about the total amount of fines imposed.
CDU sees “systemic problem in the rental car industry”
Of the 45 controls, 32 were part of the city police’s regular service. The public order office also organized 13 targeted checks. The aim was to check compliance with legal requirements in the rental car industry and to consistently punish distortions of competition and disorderly conduct.
“Compliance with the legal rules in the rental car industry is a central building block for fair competition and the safety of passengers,” said Annette Rinn (FDP), head of the public order department. “Anyone who does not comply with applicable law gains unlawful advantages and endangers trust in this industry.” The city police will therefore continue to monitor in the future in close cooperation with the licensing authority, including special operations if necessary.
The mobility policy spokesman for the CDU parliamentary group in Römer, Frank Nagel, calls the numbers that have now been published “an indictment”. If 39 rental cars were complained about during 45 inspections, it is not a marginal phenomenon, but rather “a systemic problem in the rental car industry.” It’s good that the city police are checking. “But with this hit rate, we need significantly more frequent and systematic checks – especially for companies that have their headquarters in the surrounding area.”
Frankfurt taxi drivers have been protesting for months against cheaper competition from rental car brokers such as Uber and Bolt. The head of the regulatory department commissioned a so-called functionality report. This checks whether a city can set minimum prices for rental cars. CDU transport politician Nagel does not see this as a panacea. But if all other means are obviously not enough to enforce law and order, the magistrate must finally submit the commissioned report and examine minimum prices as a serious instrument. “The longer we delay this, the greater the damage will be to honest taxi and rental car companies.”
Nagel also calls for consistent online comparison of concessions, company headquarters and platform presence. Last year, the public order office concluded a corresponding agreement with the mediation platforms. Since July, the intermediaries have forwarded all new registrations to the authority for review.
date: 2026-02-09 21:13:00