Ride-hailing service Uber on Friday said it would expand cooperation with taxi fleets, vehicle rental companies and transportation authorities to change its operating model and avoid running afoul of the “Uber Clause,” which is to be implemented from today.
The US-based company promised in a statement that it would keep all the popular Uber App features and functions while expanding cooperation with diversified taxi fleets and vehicle rental operators.
It would also work with the government by applying Uber technology in various transportation services, including yellow cabs, rental vehicles and designated driver services, Uber said.
Over the past few years, local taxi drivers have protested drivers using the ride-hailing app who are not licensed taxi drivers.
As a result, Uber began collaborating with vehicle rental operators, but that failed to solve the issue.
Eventually, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications decided to amend the law to ban Uber from offering taxi services through business partnerships with vehicle rental firms.
Article 103-1 of the Transportation Management Regulations (汽車運輸業管理規則), dubbed the “Uber Clause,” was put into action on June 6, with a grace period for Uber drivers to acquire the required business and professional driving license to continue operating under the government’s multipurpose taxi program.
The deadline for the grace period, originally set for Oct. 6, was postponed to today.
Those who contravene the rule face a fine of up to NT$90,000.
Despite opposing the new regulation, Uber has pledged to adopt a new operating model by working with the taxi industry and serving as a technology platform under the multipurpose taxi program, which allows app-based metering, upfront pricing and flexible vehicle appearances.
There were about 12,000 Uber drivers in Taiwan before the clause went into effect, according to data from the Uber drivers’ self-help association.
While about 1,000 drivers were unwilling to work under the taxi program, 7,000 to 8,000 drivers have obtained the required taxi service permits.
However, 4,000 to 5,000 of them have not yet received their taxi license plate due to slow processing at motor vehicle offices, and are unable to offer their services yet, Uber said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard