《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》 Anti-Uber mood sinks other firm

Upgraded measures against the US-based, self-described service platform Uber from the Ministry of Transportation and Communications might be the most direct cause for Brazilian service Easy Taxi leaving Taiwan this year.

Local taxi drivers called Uber’s service illegal for offering transportation while registered as an information service, adding that its drivers lack commercial licenses.

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Easy Taxi cited a ministry plan to raise fines for businesses operating without taxi industry licenses as its reason for exiting the market.

The ministry recently said it intends to amend the Act on Application, Approval and Management of the Taxi Transportation Industry （計程車客運服務業申請核准經營辦法） to include fines of between NT$50,000 and NT$150,000 for such firms.

Easy Taxi said the amendment clashed with its core business.

Its move was not made public and was shared only with drivers who were under contract with the company, sources said.

Easy Taxi’s app would still be able to hail taxis, but if the amendment is ratified, that use might become illegal, one source said.

Meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party （DPP） Legislator Kuan Bi-ling （管碧玲） said the ministry should resolve the dispute between the transport and information technology industries.

Browbeating foreign business to conform to regulations might work in the short term, but it would only hinder the nation from keeping up with the Internet era over the long term, Kuan said.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES