Uber will soon be legal in this Australian city

Clear rules for a “level playing field” for taxis and ride-sharing services such as Uber won’t be in place until 2016, Toronto council ruled following a a day-long debate Wednesday (Sept. 30).

It’s also purported to be proposing that private hire operators like Uber would have to stop showing cars available at a given time within its smartphone app. The Twitter feed is a stream of pictures of cars that have been in accidents. “Uber needs to come into the regulatory framework to a few degree while the taxi industry needs to become more competitive in a fast-changing market”.

The NRMA is also calling on the taxi industry to abolish its five per cent card payment surcharge and review its “draconian” leasing and network fees now forced on individual drivers.

The ACT government believes its regulations strike a balance between allowing the sharing economy to thrive in Canberra while recognising the pressure it puts on existing taxi drivers and owners.

“Thousands of dollars in fines have already been issued to drivers offering illegal ride-sharing activities and compliance actions will continue”, Mr Wells told the ABC.

The taxi app Uber has been given a date when it should learn whether it will be allowed to operate cabs in Brighton and Hove.

Uber were predictably less keen, with a spokesperson commenting that the proposals are “designed to address the concerns of black-cab drivers, who are feeling squeezed due to competition”. Dutch authorities have raided Uber’s Amsterdam office for a third time and the mayor of the Rio de Janeiro has banned the service from operating in the city.

It is anticipated that the ACT regulations will set an example for other Australian jurisdictions where Uber still remains unregulated.

For its part, TfL wants to set standards for the private hire industry, and left the door open to input from the public.

Under new rules, cabs will have to wait for a minimum of five minutes for picking up a passenger (more on them below).

Uber meanwhile released a statement on its website urging supporters to sign the petition and adding that “these rules make no sense” and would “threaten drivers’ livelihoods by forcing them to drive for just one operator”.

Jo Bertram, Uber’s United Kingdom head, said: “These bureaucratic new rules will not improve your ride”, said.

The plan represents the latest crackdown from various regulators around the world on Uber, which has threatened to disrupt London’s black cab industry as well as taxi services in many other cities, and could have a major effect on its success in the capital.