Uber, Free Now, Cabify and Bolt commissions for taxi drivers in Spain (2026)
· updated on · 6 min read · Taxio Team
In short: in Spain, Uber Taxi charges taxi drivers 12% + VAT per ride and Free Now 12.5% + VAT. Cabify charges 7% in Barcelona, and Bolt 0% for the first months wherever it has just arrived. The 25% you often read is not the taxi figure. Rank and street hails carry no commission.
What each platform charges taxi drivers
Figures checked in September 2026 on each platform's website or in the press. They can change by city or with promotions: what counts is the one in your contract.
| Platform | Commission for taxi drivers |
|---|---|
| Uber Taxi Metered taxi rides. It's the figure Uber publishes for Barcelona, Zaragoza and Seville. Source: Uber. | 12% + VAT |
| Free Now On the fare of every ride from the app, across Spain. It now goes by Freenow by Lyft. Source: Freenow. | 12.5% + VAT |
| Cabify Taxi drivers in Barcelona, since February 2026. No published figure for Madrid. Source: Crónica Global. | 7% |
| Bolt For the first months in cities it has just entered, such as Pamplona. No published figure for Madrid or Barcelona. Source: Servimedia. | 0% |
| Joinup, Imbric and PideTaxi Check your contract or ask the platform. | No public figure |
| Rank or street hails Paid in cash or by card reader, with no app involved. | 0% |
What about Uber's 25%?
It comes from Uber's help page for drivers, which doesn't mention taxis. For a metered taxi, Uber charges 12%.
What has changed is the fixed-price taxi. Since 2 September 2026, in 10 Spanish cities (Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Valencia, Bilbao…), Uber charges a variable fee of between 3% and 49.5% per trip on that product, before taxes. According to Uber, the weekly average stays the same as before. Metered taxi rides are not part of that change.
Why the commission decides what you earn
A €25 ride through Uber Taxi leaves you €21.37: the 12% is €3 and the VAT on that commission is €0.63. The same ride picked up at a taxi rank leaves you the full €25. With VAT, Uber's 12% is 14.5% of the fare, and Free Now's 12.5% is 15.1%. Whether you can deduct that VAT depends on your tax regime: ask your accountant.
Being paid in cash doesn't always spare you the commission if the ride came through an app. According to its help page, Bolt applies it to trips paid in cash and by card alike.
Multiply that gap by 12–15 rides a day and 25 days a month, and the difference between your gross and your real net can reach hundreds of euros a month. That's why it matters to apply the right percentage to each ride, not an average.
How to keep track without a calculator
Doing it by hand — or in an Excel spreadsheet — means typing in the fare, platform and percentage of every ride when you get home; hardly anyone keeps it up for more than a few weeks. That's exactly what Taxio automates: you set each platform's commission once, log the ride in three taps from the car, and the app deducts the commission and adds the net to your shift instantly. At the end of the month, the report broken down by platform is ready in PDF or Excel for your accountant.
Frequently asked questions about commissions
How much commission does Uber take from taxi drivers in Spain?
12% + VAT per metered ride, according to Uber's own pages for Barcelona, Zaragoza and Seville. For "Taxi con precio cerrado" (fixed-price taxi), available in 10 cities since September 2026, the fee varies per trip between 3% and 49.5%. The 25% you often read is not the taxi figure.
And Free Now, Cabify and Bolt?
Free Now charges 12.5% + VAT on every ride from the app. Cabify charges taxi drivers in Barcelona 7% since February 2026; it doesn't publish a figure for Madrid. Bolt offers 0% for the first months in the cities it enters.
Do rides paid in cash carry a commission?
If the ride came through an app, it may: Bolt, for example, charges it whether the passenger pays in cash or by card. Rank and street hails, paid in cash or by card reader, carry no platform commission.
How do I calculate my net if I work with several platforms?
Apply each platform's commission to its own rides, plus VAT if it applies: net = fare − commission − VAT on the commission. With several apps you're juggling several percentages at once; Taxio does it for you on every ride and shows your net for the day without a calculator.
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