After bowing to the pressure of Chinese rival Didi, Uber has now decided to pause its ride-hailing operations in Taiwan. This move from the company comes after several reluctant tries to reform policies and work with the government. Their drivers were facing heavy fines and the government wasn’t ready to budge ahead of its stance on their operations.
This development comes on the heels of repeated backlash being faced by Uber, on the legislation and operation front. The government had itself been pushing the pause button on their technology and innovation in the mobility ecosystem, building pressure upon them. It stuck to the issue of Uber onboarding ‘unlicensed drivers’ onto its platform and later started implying hefty fines on them.
The government had initially started charging unlicensed drivers (unlicensed as Uber allows anyone to join the platform as a driver partner) around NT$50,000 to NT$150,000 (approx $1,600 – $4,800). But, in December, the government raised the maximum fine to a whopping NT$25 million (approx $780,000) through a legislative amendment. And the company was also asked to shell out $4.3 million in back taxes and fines in Taiwan.
Through a blog post on its website, Uber has confirmed that it is temporarily suspending its services in Taiwan from February 12. The ride-hailing giant is of the opinion that this move will act as a fresh start for negotiations with government authorities. Uber also tried improving its stance in the country by securing a local insurance policy, suggesting ridesharing regulations, and launch efforts to collaborate with the taxi industry.
The company is bowing under immense pressure being created on them by the government, taking action against hard-working drivers. In an official blog post, the Uber Taiwan team grimly writes off saying,
In the face of this impasse, we must create a new path forward. Today, we are announcing our intention to pause our Taiwan service starting Friday 10th February. We hope that pressing pause will reset the conversation and inspire President Tsai to take action.
Uber Taiwan will now start work on suggestions put forth by authorities and push for new legislations to relaunch its service in the country. However, the company has provided no word on when Uber plans to make a return to the four cities of Taiwan it was operational in, with a fleet of tens of thousand of drivers. The company managed to complete over 15 million trips in four years.
