It's no secret that the Sydney taxi industry is largely controlled by a few key players. Slowly though, the market is becoming decentralised. New players are emerging along with new technology. Hire car and taxi booking services like Uber are gaining a lot of traction with consumers. Increased choice and more competition has to be a good thing, right?
Well, the old blood don't like it. They've been kicking up a massive stink in the press. To us, it just sounds like sour grapes. No more 10% card surcharge? Suck it up, Cabcharge . Victoria has mandated a reduction to 5% and NSW is likely to follow suit later this year.
The taxi industry has just chalked up a big win in its bid to stomp on the new guys. Uber had planned to shortly launch a ridesharing service which paired passengers with ordinary members of the public as drivers. The Taxi Council spoke out, saying the service should be subject to existing regulatory requirements under which it's an offence to carry passengers for a fare without RMS accreditation. The government agreed, putting the kibosh on Uber's new service, at least for now.
The Taxi Council won this round, spruiking a concern for the public interest. But we're not kidding ourselves that this is about anything other than the old blood protecting its turf. Competitive market? Not so much.
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