Increasing numbers of people have filed complaints with the Consumers' Union of Finland about taxi related issues since reforms on the sector's laws began to affect major changes when they rolled out in 2018, according to the NGO.

Consumers have reached out with complaints about availability of rides, pricing arrangements as well as the safety of taxi service providers across the country.

According to the union's Secretary General, Juha Beurling-Pomoell, the reforms on the sector put consumers in an unbalanced position.

Younger consumers in urban areas who are able to navigate smartphone apps have the opportunity to compare fare offers, for example.

But elderly people living in remote, rural areas are at a particular disadvantage and commonly find it difficult to get rides when they are needed. According to the union, this is partly due to the reforms effectively removing previous requirements for taxi services to be available in such locations.

The consumers' union said the taxi availability problems must be addressed, especially in areas without public transportation services.

The law changes also introduced deregulated pricing to the sector, leaving taxi firms to decide how much to charge customers. But since the reforms rolled out at the beginning of 2018, fares have risen significantly faster than the country's inflation rate.

According to Statistics Finland estimates in June, taxi fares have risen by an average of 30 percent nationally since 2015 - three years before the reforms went into effect. But in more remote areas in the north, price hikes have neared 40 percent since then.

The Finnish Taxi Owners' Federation managing director, Timo Koskinen, told news agency STT that the industry's current pricing strategy is primarily based on market logic, adding that "consumer choices matter."

"We offer the kinds of services that people want," he said, adding that if demand rises for cheaper taxis, such services will become more available. On the other hand, he said if customers increasingly seek out taxi services of higher quality, those will be offered more, adding that there are many opinions about whether fares have truly increased.

The federation represents a large proportion of the country's taxi operators.

Koskinen questioned estimations that taxi fares had increased by up to 40 percent, noting that the overall costs of taxi rides subsidised by the public social insurance institution Kela have actually fallen since 2018.

He also said that fares from Helsinki Airport to the capital's downtown area cost between 35-45 euros in the summer of 2018, while these days fixed prices for the same trip range from 35 to 39 euros.

Koskinen added that in the summer of 2018, a 10-minute, 10km trip cost 22 euros and now costs around 24 euros.

The Consumers' Union acknowledged that taxi fares are generally not excessive when the market works as it should.

However, according to the union's chief, Beurling-Pomoell, the market logic only works properly for certain groups and pointed out that consumers who are in a disadvantaged position are not always prepared to seek out the cheapest fares.

"If we are talking about older people with impaired hearing and cognitive abilities, how can they start bidding for [cheaper] taxis very effectively?" he asked.