The government has no intention of drafting specific legislation to regulate Uber, Minister of Transportation and Communications Hochen Tan (賀陳旦) said yesterday, adding that it would be difficult to remove the UberEats app from mobile app stores.
Controversy over the ride-sharing app remained the focus of discussions at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee yesterday, which was scheduled to review the budget for the Institute of Transportation for fiscal 2017.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators Cheng Pao-ching (鄭寶清), Chao Cheng-yu (趙正宇) and Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) mentioned UberEats, an app developed by Uber to deliver food from restaurants to its users’ homes, and asked what the ministry was going to do about it as Uber Taiwan is today set to unveil the details of the service.
The lawmakers said that UberEats should not be available for download if Uber continues to operate illegally in Taiwan, adding that taking down the app is the only effective solution to the problem.
UberEats plans to recruit motorcycle riders who are 19 or older, whose motorcycles are less than 15 years old and can carry items weighing 15kg, the lawmakers said, adding that it might encourage many young motorcycle riders to take a part-time Uber job.
Should the ministry fail to regulate the food delivery service, the nation would see more motorcyclists speeding or swerving in and out of traffic, they added.
Hochen said the ministry would crack down on drivers or motorcyclists working for UberEats, even though they would be carrying food rather than people.
However, he said there might be a problem if the government requests that the app be taken down from mobile app stores, which could cause there to be litigation with e-commerce operators.
The ministry is to send an official notice to Uber to address the situation, Hochen said.
He said Uber is apparently interested in expanding its market in Taiwan, but it insists on doing business its own way.
“Uber has only two ways to go, it either becomes taxi company or a taxi service operator. The latter can develop an app that matches consumers with legal taxi services. I am sure that Uber should know by now our determination to keep handing down fines if it is unwilling to become a legal operation,” Hochen said.
The bottom line is that Uber should be regulated, pay taxes and ensure that passengers are fully insured, Hochen said, but the government would not draft a tailor-made law to regulate the ride-sharing app.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS