Uber and taxis in Berlin
Taxis from BER run on their own cross-border tariff, so the fare is the same whether the cab is registered in Berlin or in the Brandenburg district next door, and a surcharge applies to every trip starting at the airport. The fixed price you can agree in the city does not yet apply from BER, so the meter decides. Use the marked ranks outside Terminal 1: the airport warns that cars picking up away from them may not be genuine. Terminal 2 has no rank. Tickets, passes and contactless are on the Berlin page.
Licensed taxis
Taxi
- How you pay
- Takes cards (guaranteed) and cash. Card acceptance is a legal obligation: drivers must accept at least three commonly-used card types plus cash.
- How you get one
- Street hail, rank, phone or app.
- Cost
- Metered.
- Worth knowing
- BER airport trips run under a separate, unified cross-border tariff (the Ladeberechtigung arrangement) introduced 3 May 2022: a single per-km rate schedule applies to all taxis picking up at BER regardless of whether the vehicle's registered base (Betriebssitz) is in Berlin or in the Brandenburg district of Dahme-Spreewald, so passengers pay the same fare either way.
Ride apps licensed here
Uberuber.com
- How you pay
- Takes payment in the app and cash. In-app payment is Uber's standard flow in Germany: credit card (Visa/Mastercard/Amex), PayPal, and Google Pay are all confirmed.
- How you get one
- In the app.
- Cost
- Upfront price shown in the app before you book.
- Worth knowing
- Uber's German business drivers who self-register as independent Mietwagen operators must hold a §49 PBefG rental-car concession, which itself requires a passed IHK Fachkunde (professional competence) exam - distinct from the simpler Personenbeförderungsschein (P-Schein) required of employed drivers.
Boltbolt.eu
- How you pay
- Takes payment in the app and cash. In-app payment via credit card (Mastercard/Visa) or PayPal is the standard flow; cash trips also exist as a distinct, driver-settled payment path per Bolt's own rider-support articles addressing cash-vs-in-app trip confusion.
- How you get one
- In the app.
- Cost
- Upfront price shown in the app before you book.
- Worth knowing
- Bolt publicly lobbies for abolition of both the Rückkehrpflicht (§49 Abs.
FreeNowfree-now.com
- How you pay
- Takes cash. Riders can choose to pay in-app (Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal or card) or pay the driver directly in the vehicle with cash or card.
i
- How you get one
- App or phone.
- Cost
- Upfront price shown in the app before you book.
- Worth knowing
- FreeNow's own Germany/Austria President, Alexander Mönch, used a 1 June 2026 press release to call publicly for a minimum-fare floor (Mindestbeförderungsentgelt) for Mietwagen in Berlin, citing Munich and Cologne as models, arguing that the Berlin market suffers from massively distorted competition from Mietwagen price competition, and separately called for broader PBefG reform.
i
What is not recorded
- No published tariff is recorded for Taxi. Ask for an estimate before you set off, and check the meter is running.