US-based ride-hailing company Uber Technologies announced that it will return to the local market tomorrow, with a new business model focused on cooperating with vehicle rental companies.
Uber on Monday sent invitations to media outlets for a news conference tomorrow at which it is to announce its return, saying that the move was at the urging of its supporters in Taiwan.
It is also to reveal details of its business model and a new Uber application, the company said, although it said that it would no longer work with individual drivers, but rather with the car rental industry.
At the same time, Uber said it would provide services in remote townships and villages and pledged not to break any laws after restarting operations.
Uber suspended services in Taiwan on Feb. 10 due to the staggering amount of fines it and its drivers had accrued for violations of transportation service regulations.
The firm was deemed to be illegally operating transportation services, because it was registered as a provider of information services.
Uber refused to comply with government demands to register as a transportation business, saying that it was not a taxi service.
As of late December last year, Uber had accumulated fines of NT$68.45 million (US$2.23 million at the current exchange rate) for 481 violations, while its drivers had been fined a combined NT$20.83 million.
The maximum fine for the operation of illegal passenger transportation services on Jan. 6 was increased to NT$25 million, and Uber was found guilty of an additional 48 violations, resulting in an estimated NT$1.1 billion in fines.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications said the ride-hailing service will remain on the right side of the law as long as it sticks to cooperating with car rental companies.
However, the ministry said that Uber still has NT$800 million in unpaid fines.
The Directorate-General of Highways said Uber must comply with the regulations if it reopens, and vowed to pursue payment of the unpaid fines through administrative means.
The agency said it told Uber last month that because it is registered in Taiwan as an information provider, it can only offer “technology services” if it wants to operate legally.
If Uber plans to work with rental companies, it has to post the names of the companies and drivers it works with and the fees it will charge on its app, the agency said.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS