Uber Taiwan yesterday announced plans to launch a new service called UberTAXI next month by working with local taxi operators.
However, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said the company would remain an illegal service provider and would be ordered to cease operations if it continues to hire drivers who do not hold a license to operate commercial vehicles.
Uber Taiwan made the seemingly conciliatory move after amendments to the Highway Act (公路法) took effect earlier this month, raising the maximum fine for illegal taxi operators to NT$25 million (US$790,564).
Photo courtesy of Uber Technologies Inc
Uber said that the service is a partnership with the Taxi Driver Labor Union of the Republic of China, adding that it would initially be offered in the Greater Taipei area.
People could call a cab by using the Uber app and would be charged based on standard rates set by taxis operating in Taipei, Uber said.
Despite its partnership with the union, the company said it has no intention to drop its UberX, UberBlack and UberAssist services, which use non-licensed drivers.
“The introduction of UberTAXI shows that a sharing economy and taxis can coexist in Taiwan’s healthy, vibrant and diversified market, which benefits both drivers and passengers,” Uber Taiwan general manager Ku Li-kai (顧立楷) said. “The partnership [with the union] demonstrates Uber’s commitment to the Taiwanese market. We will continue our negotiations with government agencies and hope that the government would draft appropriate laws to regulate ride-sharing services.”
Union chairman Lin Sheng-he (林聖河) said that it is looking forward to its partnership with Uber Taiwan, as the technology developed by the company can help cab drivers find more passengers and increase their income.
Passengers will have another safe, reliable and quality service option, he said.
Lin said that 60 to 70 percent of union members said in a survey that they were willing to be Uber drivers if there is another platform out there that matches the service requests with the taxi drivers.
However, the partnership would cease if the company continues to dispatch illegal taxi drivers, he said.
Taipei City Professional Drivers’ Union president Cheng Li-chia (鄭力嘉) said that Lin made a unilateral decision to work with Uber without consulting other groups.
Department of Railways and Highways specialist Hu Ti-chi (胡迪琦) said that the ministry is not yet clear about the details of the partnership, but it is glad to see that Uber has decided to work with taxi operators.
However, Hu added: “Even if part of Uber’s operation is legal now, we will continue cracking down on its illegal services. That is, if it continues hiring drivers who do not have a valid taxi driver’s license.”
Uber will have to apply to become a legal transport service provider if it dispatches taxi drivers and charges passengers for the service, she added.
Uber would not have any legal issue if it simply serves as a non-profit platform that matches taxi drivers with passengers requesting cab services, she said.
However, it becomes a legal issue if Uber pays and dispatches drivers to offer services, because it is not a registered transport service operator, she said.
Statistics from the Directorate General of Highways showed that as of Friday last week, Uber has been fined a total of NT$96.49 million: NT$73.25 million for the company and NT$23.24 million for its drivers.
POLITICAL AGENDA: Beijing’s cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival events are part of a ‘cultural united front’ aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan, academics said Local authorities in China have been inviting Taiwanese to participate in cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations centered around ideals of “family and nation,” a move Taiwanese academics said politicizes the holiday to promote the idea of “one family” across the Taiwan Strait. Sources said that China’s Fujian Provincial Government is organizing about 20 cross-strait-themed events in cities including Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming and Zhangzhou. In Zhangzhou, a festival scheduled for Wednesday is to showcase Minnan-language songs and budaixi (布袋戲) glove puppetry to highlight cultural similarities between Taiwan and the region. Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province is hosting more than 10 similar celebrations in Taizhou, Changzhou, Suzhou,
The Republic of China (ROC) is celebrating its 114th Double Ten National Day today, featuring military parades and a variety of performances and speeches in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. The Taiwan Taiko Association opened the celebrations with a 100-drummer performance, including young percussionists. As per tradition, an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet flew over the Presidential Office as a part of the performance. The Honor Guards of the ROC and its marching band also heralded in a military parade. Students from Taichung's Shin Min High School then followed with a colorful performance using floral imagery to represent Taiwan's alternate name
COGNITIVE WARFARE: Chinese fishing boats transmitting fake identification signals are meant to test Taiwan’s responses to different kinds of perceived incursions, a report said Chinese vessels are transmitting fake signals in Taiwan’s waters as a form of cognitive warfare, testing Taipei’s responses to various types of incursions, a report by the Institute for the Study of War said on Friday. Several Chinese fishing vessels transmitted fake automatic identification system (AIS) signals in Taiwan’s waters last month, with one mimicking a Russian warship and another impersonating a Chinese law enforcement vessel, the report said. Citing data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence, the report said that throughout August and last month, the Chinese fishing boat Minshiyu 06718 (閩獅漁06718) sailed through the Taiwan Strait while intermittently transmitting its own AIS
CHINESE INFILTRATION: Medical logistics is a lifeline during wartime and the reported CCP links of a major logistics company present a national security threat, an expert said The government would bolster its security check system to prevent China from infiltrating the nation’s medical cold chain, a national security official said yesterday. The official, who wished to stay anonymous, made the remarks after the Chinese-language magazine Mirror Media (鏡周刊) reported that Pharma Logistics (嘉里醫藥物流) is in charge of the medical logistics of about half of the nation’s major hospitals, including National Taiwan University Hospital and Taipei Veterans General Hospital. The company’s parent, Kerry TJ Logistics Co (嘉里大榮物流), is associated with the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the
RSS