Uber on crosshairs

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) of the Philippines is not alone in clamping down on Uber and other app-based taxi-hailing services for their failure to register, get insurance for their passengers and pay taxes to the government.

Bruce Hung, a Hong Kong police senior inspector, revealed that they raided Uber’s office and arrested five of its drivers for lacking the required for-hire car permits or third-party insurance.

Over in  Australia, the government is demanding that UberX units pay 10 percent of their fares just like regular taxis after the service turned into big business overnight.

A year ago, UberX did not exist in Australia, but it now has 15,000 drivers and one million users. UberX is contesting in Federal Court the ruling of the Australian Tax Office that it is a taxi service, thus must pay in taxes what regular taxis pay.

The Hong Kong raid on Uber and arrest of three of its staff and five drivers mirror mounting concern across the globe over the operation of taxi-hailing services which hurt the livelihood of regular taxi operators and drivers.

In the Philippines, LTFRB Chairman Winston Ginez said that his office is merely doing its job since taxi operations in the Philippines must be accompanied by valid franchises issued by his office. –End-

Image by: NY Post