Uber drivers face tougher punishment from the Ministry of Transportation and Communications after new standards to penalize illegal taxi drivers took effect yesterday.
Statistics from the Directorate-General of Highways showed that Uber Taiwan had 276 recorded violations, with the fines topping NT$37.7 million (US$1.16 million).
The highway authority has also been cracking down on drivers recruited by Uber Taiwan, filing 277 violations. The penalties imposed on these drivers totaled NT$12.05 million.
Even though the fines total almost NT$50 million, the ride-sharing firm remains undeterred and continues to recruit drivers.
The ministry said the Uber drivers were fined NT$50,000 each time they were caught and faced a two-month license suspension. The penalty for drivers who are caught twice was also NT$50,000, but their licenses were suspended for three months as well.
The new standards maintain the fines for first-time offenders, but they face a NT$100,000 fine and a six-month license suspension for a second offense.
Drivers who repeat the offense more than six months after their first violation face a fine of NT$60,000 and a license suspension of three months.
The ministry said third and fourth-time offenders would see their penalties rise to NT$70,000 and NT$80,000 and have their licenses suspended for four months and five months respectively.
Drivers found to have violated the regulations five times or more are to be fined NT$100,000 for each violation and face a suspension of their license for six months.
In response, Uber Taiwan said that drivers are an integral part of its business and that it would do everything it could to support drivers who are affected by the policy.
The company also said that it would continue seeking negotiations with the Executive Yuan.
Taiwan does not exclude the possibility of having formal diplomatic relations with countries that also have formal ties with China, regardless of Beijing’s stance, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said on Sunday. There was speculation in 2012 that Honduras was attempting to have simultaneous diplomatic relations with Taiwan and China, an idea that then-minister of foreign affairs David Lin (林永樂) rejected. Honduras severed formal ties with Taiwan on Sunday morning after establishing diplomatic relations with Beijing. President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration has taken a more practical approach to relations with like-minded countries since assuming government in 2016. Previous administrations took the
WASHED ASHORE: Of the 16 bodies discovered along Taiwan’s west coast this month, two were Vietnamese and five were Taiwanese, coast guard officials said Minister of Justice Tsai Ching-hsiang (蔡清祥) said that he has instructed prosecutors and maritime authorities to launch investigations after 16 bodies were found along Taiwan’s west coast this month, amid speculation that they were victims of smuggling or human trafficking rings. Coast Guard Administration (CGA) officials said the bodies, most of which had washed ashore, were found by coast guard personnel and local residents along the coastline from Keelung to Kaohsiung. Thirteen of the bodies are male and three are female, the CGA said, adding that items found on the bodies indicate that two of the men were Vietnamese, while three men
TASK FORCE DISPATCHED: MOFA said it would assist state employees with repatriation or relocation to other ally nations in the region after Tegucigalpa severed ties The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Monday ordered Honduras to vacate its embassy in Taiwan within 30 days of Sunday after Tegucigalpa made a similar demand of Taiwan. Taipei on Monday announced that it had cut ties with Honduras after the Central American nation earlier said in a statement that it had established ties with Beijing and ended its diplomatic relationship with Taiwan. Following the announcements, Honduran Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Garcia spoke on Honduran television saying that Taiwan would be required to vacate its embassy in the Honduran capital. In Taipei, MOFA later told a news conference that “according
CHINA TRIP: The former president said he hoped the two sides of the Taiwan Strait would work together to pursue peace, avoid war and strive to ‘revitalize China’ Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday began a 12-day tour of China with a visit to the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing. He paid tribute to Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙), a founder of the Republic of China, giving a short speech and then bowing in front of the memorial. “The people of both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to the Chinese nation, are children of Yandi (炎帝) and Huangdi (黃帝),” he told reporters who had been allowed to follow him on the trip, referring to figures said to have founded of the Han ethnicity in ancient China. Ma has framed the trip as
RSS