The ride-sharing service, Uber, has faced resistance from taxi drivers in cities around the world; with Kuala Lumpur being one of them. The city of Seoul, South Korea has declared war with Uber with attempts by their government to ban that service. Now, it seems Uber and the taxi drivers in Seoul have finally found peace with the invention of UberTaxi.
With UberTaxi, a number of registered taxi drivers in Seoul have signed with the app to provide taxi services to Uber app users. Drivers meanwhile won’t be getting commission, but instead they will receive a subsidy of approximately RM6 for each fare booked via that app.
The UberTaxi app works brilliantly with regular taxi drivers in Asian cities such as Singapore, Tokyo and Hong Kong, with business improved up to 40%. Taxi drivers in Seoul can work either as a licensed freelancer with their own cars or drive for taxi companies, and the UberTaxi app is used by licensed freelancers for now. However, the low-cost UberX remains illegal in South Korea, just like in Malaysia.
To sum up, this basically fits the old adage of “if you can’t beat them, join them.” Only time will tell if our infamous taxi drivers will soon work hand-in-hand with Uber should UberTaxi be introduced in Kuala Lumpur.
[Source: Wall Street Journal]
