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 . The Ministry of Transportation and Communications ' remarks followed an announcement by Uber and the taxi drivers ' union that they were launching a service together allowing customers in Taiwan to order taxis via the Uber app . The ministry said that because Uber was founded as a software company and not a hardware company , it can only legally operate a taxi - hailing service only if no operator changes hands between Uber and taxi operators .