Uber Taiwan said it would continue operations in Taiwan despite amendments to the Highway Act (公路法) that take effect today and raise the maximum penalty for illegal taxi service operators to NT$25 million (US$782,179).
The amendment, passed by the Legislative Yuan last month, was officially promulgated by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Wednesday.
“We have yet to obtain relevant details from any government agency. We are, however, sorry to hear that President Tsai signed the amendment to the Highway Act. This move would kill Taiwan’s chance to become the Silicon Valley in Asia and prevent the nation from benefiting from the sharing economy,” the company said in a statement.
“We are in the process of setting up meetings with government agencies to talk about legal solutions to the ride-sharing business in Taiwan. Uber is dedicated to serving the Taiwanese market and we will continue our support for more than 10,000 Uber drivers and more than 1 million Uber users,” the company added.
Uber Taiwan and its drivers had accumulated fines of NT$92.07 million as of Friday last week, Directorate-General of Highways data shows.
The company has paid NT$68.25 million so far.
Apart from increasing the maximum penalty from NT$150,000 to NT$25 million, the amendments allow the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to fine illegal ride-sharing operators a minimum of NT$1 million.
The maximum penalty would be handed down to illegal ride-sharing operators if they have contravened the act more than six times or three times within six months.
The maximum penalty can also be handed down if the ministry finds an operator has committed a severe violation of the act or relevant regulations.
Should operators refuse to pay fines, the ministry can order them to cease operations and request that a court detain their assets.
The fine for individuals working for illegal ride-sharing operators is NT$100,000 with a suspension of car registration and driver’s license for four months. They can receive a maximum penalty of NT$200,000 if they have violated the act more than five times or more than twice within six months.
The ministry said that it will use rules similar to the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法) to give a monetary reward to people who report ride-sharing operations.
A small portion of the penalties would be set aside as rewards, the ministry said, adding that it would cap the money given to those who report illegal operations.
Further details would be disclosed next month, the ministry said.
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