The story of Uber – Grab and traditional taxi

The Vice Minister of Transport Nguyen Hong Truong informs that on the upcoming July 20, the Ministry of Transport will have a meeting with Uber, Grab and related agencies to conclude a solution to manage this service.

Support Uber and Grab while help traditional taxi

Speaking to reporters after the conference on the first half of 2017 organized by the Ministry of Transportation on July 13, Mr. Truong says that the Ministry has invited the representatives of Uber, Grab and major cities to discuss solutions to manage the service. The arguments between Uber, Grab and traditional taxis need to conclude. “The Ministry of Transport has discussed and set up some conversations with the representatives of traditional taxis. Now, the Ministry will discuss with Uber, Grab and major cities and will come to a conclusion. The content will be publicized,” Mr. Truong says.

The fight between Uber-Grab and traditional taxi

The representatives of the Transportation Department of the Ministry of Transport says that the content of the meeting is being prepared but no measures to manage Uber and Grab are given specifically. “The intention is to give out management measures that allow Uber and Grab to operate because it is technological advancement. On the contrary, the conditions that restrict traditional taxis will be removed. We have asked the traditional taxi companies to send proposals from the previous dialogue (on June 29), but no one responded,” the representative comments.

The representative also says that in the next meeting, even though the Ministry of Transport does not have direct responsibility, the Ministry will still invite representatives of other relevant ministries such as the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, and the General

Department of Taxation, etc. To attend the meeting and provide management measures.

Consider Uber and Grab as taxi, right or wrong?

Mr. Nguyen Van Quyen, the Chairman of the Association of Traffic Safety affirms that Uber and Grab are chosen by many customers because of competitive rates and many other advantages. Therefore, they are dominating in the market. Meanwhile, traditional taxi companies share the same market but compete in unfavorable conditions. The state needs to ensure fairness before the law for management subjects.”

According to Mr. Quyen, Uber, Grab and taxis have the same targets – customers travelling for short-distance. As a result, the identification of Uber and Grab vehicles as a contract transport business (electronic contract) is not suitable in accordance with the management requirements.

It is necessary to define that under 9 passenger vehicle using Uber or Grab service to connect with customer for transportation is kind of taxi service. Based on this, the related company must comply with the according regulation. Mr. Quyen proposes Uber and Grab must have logos, signal and managed in similar to Taxi.

Head of the Transport Ministry’s Transportation pision, Mr. Tran Bao Ngoc points out to categorize Uber and Grab as contract vehicles are rational, as a similar step is also implemented in many countries. Mr. Ngoc says traditional taxi has an advantage over Uber and Grab with logos for customer to recognize easily:” If it is not useful, why taxi do not take off logo to become contract vehicle “.

According to him, the difference between those two is IT application in transport service, which traditional taxi can apply to improve their efficiency.

Sharing the same view, former Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Office, Dr. Nguyen Sy Dung said Grab and Uber is the symbol of a new era, for which the technology transforms our way of living and working: “benefits of Uber and Grab are obvious”. Mr. Dung also suggests transportation using Grab and Uber will reduce personal vehicle on the street.

“Easy management will lead to easy tax collection. The government’s inability in tax collection is hard to accept” – Mr. Dung said. With this being said, Mr. Dung affirms it is important to remove and revise regulations to reduce unnecessary expenses and ensure fairer business environment for traditional taxi./.

VNF/Hanoitimes