Taipei, Jan. 19 (CNA) The government will order the ride-hailing app Uber to suspend its operations in Taiwan if it is found to be continuing to run illegal transport services in the country, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said Thursday. The ministry made the comment after Uber and the union of taxi drivers announced earlier that day they will jointly launch a new service in February that will allow customers in Taipei to order taxis via a Uber app. The new service "uberTAXI" will be added to Uber's app platform, which has been around in Taiwan for four years, Uber said, adding that all of its existing ride-hailing apps will remain available. In response, the ministry said that because Uber was registered as a software company, not as a taxi service, it can legally provide a ride-hailing service for taxi operators and passengers, but only so long as no monetary transactions take place between Uber and the taxi drivers. However, if Uber runs taxi services by hiring the taxi drivers, then it will be deemed illegal and could face fines, the ministry said. In addition, the ministry said it remains firm on its stance on banning Uber from running illegal private car services and will order it to suspend its business if it is found to be continuing to run an illegal transportation service. (By Chen Wei-ting and Evelyn Kao) ENDITEM/J
The Taiwanese government said it will suspend Uber's operations in Taiwan if it is found to be running illegal transport services in the country. Uber has been operating legally since last year but its business model relies on a surge of new drivers who are not subject to background checks and don't have insurance or driving licenses. The ministry said that because Uber was registered as a software company and not a taxi company, it can only legally provide a ride-hailing service only if no money changes hands between Uber and taxi drivers.