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.
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS