September 7, 2016

Competition is set to heat up with new Queensland legislation passing, legalizing ride sharing app, Uber, on Monday this week.

Legal ride-sharing services like uber will be faced with regulations that bring them in line with taxis, including background checks however this was not enough for concerned cabbies. 

About 200 cab drivers made their opinions very clear, staging a rally outside State Parliament accusing the Queensland Government of selling them out.

The general manager of Yellow Cabs, Bill Parker said, “I think that the Government will need to understand that this industry won’t sit back and let them continue to do what they’re doing without some consequence.”We’re going to hold them accountable, it should be a level playing field.”

State Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said changing customer expectations highlighted the need to update existing transport regulations.

“These reforms give Queenslanders more choice, will drive competition and innovation across the whole industry, and deliver a more flexible and modern personalised transport system that can keep pace with future changes,” he said

“Ride-booking services will now be able to operate legally across Queensland but there will be additional safety measures, such as requirements for identification signage and annual inspects to certify safety at approved inspection stations.

For more information, go to: Anti-Competitive Conduct

“Queenslanders will start to see signage of some ride-booking services in the lead up to the November 1 deadline.”

More ride sharing apps are set to to take off now that the legislation has passed, with companies like GoCatch waiting for the Government to legalize the services before launching.

With the taxi market in Australia worth $5.4 billion, it’s not surprising that Gocatch has the backing of serious investors including Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s son Alex, James Packer and Airtasker co-founder Tim Fung.

Categories: All

Was this article helpful?
people found this article useful

Get in touch with us

Online Now

Welcome to Carter Capner Law! I'm here to assist with enquiries and gather details. How can I help today?