Taxi drivers in Larnaca went on strike for four hours on Tuesday morning in protest at what they described as “uncontrolled action by passenger transport applications” in the town, and particularly in and around its airport, arguing that drivers registered further afield are infringing on their custom through those applications.

The Pancyprian federation of urban taxis described the issue as “a matter of professional survival” and said that it has two “clear and non-negotiable demands” over the issue.

It said the first demand is the “immediate and complete disconnection of the signal and activity of all applications from Larnaca airport” for vehicles registered outside the Larnaca district, and “the strict and universal observance” of the location in which taxis are registered by those applications.

This, it said, must be done “without exceptions, loopholes, or interpretations as they see fit”.

“We demand the implementation of the law and the restoration of legality. The responsibility for what follows will fall solely on those who knew what the situation was and chose not to act,” it said.

It also said that if its demands are not met following Tuesday’s four-hour strike, a 24-hour strike will take place on January 20. If its demands are still not met after that, it said, an indefinite strike would then take place after January 28.

Later in the day, Larnaca district taxi committee spokesman Giorgos Makris told the Cyprus News Agency that “the existing electronic applications operate illegally by using private cars”.

“We are not against online platforms and applications and evolution, but what is happening to us is not innovation, it is criminal. We want and ask for the state’s help to ensure that all applications and everyone in our profession implement the law,” he said.

On this matter, he said that at present, Larnaca airport “has become a centre of lawlessness”.

“We want it to be cured, we want supervision, we want the road transport department to be permanently located here, to create a headquarters so that they can stop these violations and infringements,” he said.

He then added that taxi drivers have seen their income fall by as much as 40 per cent in the last year due to the problems he cited.

Meanwhile, the licensing authority said it is “surprised and concerned” over the decision to go on strike, adding that it is “making every possible effort to act in a mediating and supportive manner” over the matter.

It called on taxi drivers to reconsider their decision to go on strike, saying that the strike “is not expected to bring substantial benefit” to them, but that it “may have negative effects on the Cypriot economy, tourism sector, and the international image of the Republic of Cyprus at a particularly sensitive time”.