The Taiwan Taxi Industry Development Alliance yesterday said that it would mobilize 80,000 taxi drivers to protest against Uber Taiwan, after five taxi drivers either committed suicide or died from overwork in the past two weeks.
After accumulating a huge number of penalties handed down by the government, Uber temporarily ceased operations in February last year, but relaunched two months later by forming partnerships with car rental companies.
Uber drivers now drive their own vehicles and are the car rental companies’ employees in name only.
“Uber uses legal car rental companies as shields to cover up its illegal taxi business, which has greatly reduced the revenue of legal taxi drivers. The five taxi drivers who committed suicide or died from overwork had trouble making ends meet due to a shortfall in income, which is similar to what happened in New York City,” the alliance said in a statement.
Uber should stop making impractical promises to distract people from the fact that it is the reason more taxi drivers have to work longer hours, the alliance said, adding that the government should crack down on Uber and its drivers or it will have to confront 80,000 angry taxi drivers.
The rules used to regulate taxis are stricter than those for regular car rental businesses, and are in place for passenger safety, it said, adding that taxi drivers must undergo a background check at a police department before they are allowed to work.
Cases of passengers being sexually abused by Uber drivers in the US and London, as well as Didi-Chuxing drivers in China, are the result of loosely managed online platforms, the alliance added.
Uber could have become a legal taxi business operator by joining the government’s diversified taxi service program, but it seeks to evade its responsibilities as a transport business operator and insists on running an illegal taxi business, the alliance said.
“It has accumulated NT$2.5 billion [US$81.4 million at the current exchange rate] in penalties for contravening government regulations, refused to pay taxes and caused the number of commercial vehicles around the nation to rise,” the alliance said. “It shows an outright contempt for the law in Taiwan.”
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications said that car rental businesses mainly offer two services: either renters drive the cars themselves or they request the service of a driver.
As the alliance is challenging the legality of the latter service, the ministry said it would seek opinions from the Ministry of Justice to ascertain if Uber’s business practices are illegal.
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
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with
Taiwan-based publisher Li Yanhe (李延賀) has been sentenced to three years in prison, fined 50,000 yuan (US$6,890) in personal assets and deprived political rights for one year for “inciting secession” in China, China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said today. The Shanghai First Intermediate People’s Court announced the verdict on Feb. 17, Chen said. The trial was conducted lawfully, and in an open and fair manner, he said, adding that the verdict has since come into legal effect. The defendant reportedly admitted guilt and would appeal within the statutory appeal period, he said, adding that the defendant and his family have
RSS