415 thousand euros of taxpayers' money is spent on taxis to transport asylum seekers, causing outrage.
Official parliamentary audit documents revealed that around 415,000 euros of public funds were paid to a taxi association in Kärnten (Carinthia) to transport asylum seekers between 2020 and 2024.
Records show that payments went to Klagenfurter Funktaxiverein 31111, a taxi association based in Klagenfurt. According to parliamentary documents, the association received service contracts totaling €414,695 exclusively for transporting asylum seekers within Austria.
These amounts were distributed unevenly over five years. In 2020, the funding was €1,458, then it rose to €84,570 in 2021, before peaking in 2022 at €328,524. After that, payments sharply declined to only €83 in 2023, then €90 in 2024.
Klagenfurter Funktaxiverein 31111 defines itself on its official website as an association that includes about 25 taxi companies, operating continuously for over 50 years, providing services around the clock in the area.
According to the newspaper Hoyta, these figures have intensified the ongoing political debate in Austria regarding the size of public spending. Previous reports revealed that various organizations and associations received hundreds of thousands of euros in government funding over short periods.
Since November 2025, a permanent subcommittee of the Audit Foundation Committee, informally known as the 'mini parliamentary committee', has been reviewing these payments. This audit was initiated at the request of the FPÖ (Freedom Party), which aims to identify savings potential to reduce the budget deficit.
The subcommittee consists of 13 members, chaired by Representative Paul Hammerl. Although its powers are less than those of full parliamentary investigation committees, its findings are expected to play an important oversight role. The final report is scheduled to be presented on April 22, 2026, before being discussed within the Audit Institution Committee, and then presented later in a public session of Parliament in June.