Uber wants govt's cooperation

UBER wants the government to issue a guideline for private transportation service providers like Uber in Bangladesh, a top official said recently.

The US-based firm's system is designed around drivers who use their personal cars to transport users to their destinations. More than 50 lakh people in 74 countries and 450 cities get Uber rides every day, according to the global transport company.

“We want to be regulated. Also, we want to be engaged with the government to sort out the difference,” Amy Kunrojpanya, Uber's head of communications and public affairs in Asia Pacific, told The Daily Star in an interview in Dhaka.

Uber, the San Francisco-based taxi-hailing mobile application firm, has launched its service in Dhaka in November last year, promising to bring a change in the commuting experience in the busy and congested capital.

Soon after the launch, the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority said the ride-hailing service of Uber was in violation of the country's motor vehicles regulations.

In the notice, the BRTA said taxi services in Bangladesh are regulated under the 'Taxicab Service Guideline-2010' and prospective companies must seek approval from the BRTA.

Vehicles that are rented or run on fare are registered in a series different from other vehicles.

“Uber is not a taxi company; rather it's a tech company,” Kunrojpanya said.

To incorporate Uber's business model some countries have already adopted guidelines for ride-sharing services, with many countries in the pipeline to do so. 

The Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia have recognised the ride-hailing service. India and China, the two biggest markets in the world, have some sort of guidelines in this regard.

Uber is in discussions with the Vietnam government on the issue, while Japan also wants to regulate ride sharing.

“But this is not an issue of one-time discussion. We want to be engaged with the government as these things happen through partnership,” said Kunrojpanya, an Australian citizen who has been working in Asia for the last two decades.

Products like Uber are the future of urban mobility, helping to decongest cities such as Dhaka by getting more people into fewer cars and letting users move around their city more affordably, she said.

Uber's technology-driven service has huge economic impact in different countries.

Globally, only 4 percent cars are utilised on an average and in the US 30 percent cars always look for parking spaces causing congestion on the roads.

“Many cities across the world look like parking lots. If you share rides, the question of parking will not be there and the traffic will be reduced significantly,” said Kunrojpanya.

The level of pollution will also come down.

She also touched upon Uber's experience in Bangladesh so far.

“Everyday people are signing up as drivers and riders of Uber,” she said, while declining to disclose any figures.

“Right now, we are getting a lot of feedback. From the riders' side they are very positive -- they want Uber to expand the service outside of Dhaka.”

While Uber has not settled on its expansion plans in Bangladesh yet, the company wants to make its services available at more places, she said.

On the issues of safety, Kunrojpanya said Uber takes all steps -- from law enforcers to third party -- to check and crosscheck background and criminal record of its drivers.

Replying to a query, she said Uber is not yet a profitable entity as it continues to invest and reinvest for innovation, marketing and creating a pool of engineers.

Since its inception in March 2009, Uber has been the subject of protests and legal actions from taxi drivers and taxi companies around the world.

The groups say that Uber bypasses local licensing and safety laws and amounts to unfair competition.

Taxi drivers in London, Berlin, Paris and Madrid had staged large-scale protests against Uber in June 2014.

In some countries, Uber drivers were also targets of attacks by taxi drivers.

On January 13, 2014, cab drivers in Paris attacked an Uber driver's car near Charles de Gaulle Airport, protesting competition from the transportation start-up.