Uber and other food delivery firms must insure drivers against accidents that result in death or permanent disability, an ordinance passed by the New Taipei City Council on Thursday says.
The ordinance applies to delivery platforms that are registered or provide services in the city, New Taipei City Labor Affairs Department Commissioner Chen Jui-chia (陳瑞嘉) said.
Platforms that rely on contract drivers are required to provide accident insurance guaranteeing compensation of at least NT$3 million (US$101,163), in addition to medical insurance for work-related injuries that provides full coverage or a per diem policy, Chen said.
Contravening the rules would result in a fine of NT$300,000 to NT$100,000, he said.
The ordinance stipulates that platforms must suspend services if the New Taipei City Government cancels workdays due to a natural disaster, except when there is a compelling reason to continue serving customers or when the lack of risk is self-evident, he said.
Platforms would be required to ensure that their drivers receive occupational safety training and clearly understand the app’s method of calculating pay, Chen said.
New Taipei City councilors during the second reading deleted a proposed article that would have limited the maximum number of hours drivers could work, he said.
The article was cut because it might have become a pretext for platforms to refuse to pay drivers for overtime and might contravene contractors’ right to work, Chen said.
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
RSS