Amsterdam Drivers Launch App to Challenge Uber's Grip

After years of watching a foreign company dictate the terms of their livelihood, Amsterdam taxi drivers have built their own alternative to Uber.

The app is called NLCabs, and it already has nearly 1,300 drivers signed up. Founder Mostapha Ahidar, a driver himself, launched the platform with co-founder Ivo van Leeuwen after growing tired of what he calls an American monopoly controlling their trade.

The app works just like Uber. Passengers request a ride, nearby drivers accept, and everyone gets where they need to go. But there's one crucial difference that matters to drivers: the commission rate.

NLCabs takes just 3% from each fare, which Ahidar says covers only what the platform needs to operate. Uber's commission varies and can climb beyond half the total fare, according to drivers, though the company doesn't publicly share its rates. "We are treated like children by Uber," one driver told Dutch newspaper Het Parool. "We have absolutely no room for negotiation."

The tension between Uber and Dutch drivers has been building for years. In August, the country's data protection authority slapped Uber with an €825 million fine for deactivating driver accounts through automated systems without proper human review. It was the second-largest penalty ever issued under EU privacy law.

That came after a €290 million fine in 2024 for improperly sending driver data to the United States. Both fines stemmed from complaints by French drivers, and Uber is appealing both decisions.

The legal battles extend beyond privacy. In January, an Amsterdam appeal court ruled that Uber drivers cannot automatically be classified as employees, reversing a 2021 decision. The trade union behind that case is considering taking it to the Supreme Court.

The Ripple Effect

What makes this story bigger than one app in one city is what it represents. Many drivers work almost exclusively through Uber and have few other ways to find passengers. When a single company controls access to customers, workers lose bargaining power.

By building their own platform, these drivers are reclaiming that power. They're showing that the technology itself isn't magic or impossibly complex. It's a tool, and workers can build their own tools when existing ones don't serve them.

NLCabs has only a few hundred downloads so far, and the founders acknowledge the challenge ahead. Changing habits is hard, especially when people are used to opening one particular app. But they're planning to expand across the Netherlands.

Sometimes the best response to feeling powerless is building your own path forward.