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
