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Category: Road Transport / Transport / Government and Politics

Uber one step closer for NT as Government outlines ride-booking plan

04:35 UTC+8 April 28, 2017 | Nadia Daly

The ride-sharing company Uber has been refused entry into the Northern Territory. (ABC News: Garth Caird)

The Northern Territory Government will today announce that a cap on taxi numbers will remain when it outlines its framework for legalising ride booking — paving the way for services such as Uber to operate in the jurisdiction.

The Labor Government came to power last year with the promise of making ride-booking services like Uber legal after the previous government ruled it out.

Late last year, the Government formed a steering committee made up of interested parties including the taxi industry and Uber to advise on what a framework for legalising ride sharing could look like.

That committee released its report to the Government in February, flagging several options to pay for the expected $4 million annual cost of industry regulation under the new model.

One option would see a cap on taxi numbers remain, an almost 90 per cent reduction in licence fees, and a $1 levy placed on all taxi and Uber rides, to be paid by passengers.

The other would see the removal of the taxi cap, a flat licence fee of $100 and a $1.30 levy on all taxi and Uber rides.

Levies have been implemented in NSW, SA and Victoria as part of legalising ride booking.

At the time, NT Opposition Leader Gary Higgins labelled the proposal a "taxi tax … that will slug all taxi passengers right across the Northern Territory, whether or not they use Uber".

Uber was strongly against any levy on consumers, labelling it "unjustified profiteering" by the Government.

The taxi industry also objected to the levy idea.

Legalising ride booking controversial in NT

The ABC understands that after considering those options, the Government has decided a cap on taxi numbers will remain — meaning no more taxi license plates will be released.

Several taxi industry representatives were against lifting the cap on taxi numbers as they believed it could flood the market with new operators and see existing taxi plate owners lose profit.

The issue of legalising ride-booking apps like Uber has been a controversial one, especially for the taxi industry, which is strongly opposed to other operators entering their market.

The Territory Government has already promised to legalise ride booking, and today it will release information on what legislative changes will be made to do so.

The ABC has been told the cap on the number of taxi licences will remain in place; one of the options on the table was to lift the cap to allow more taxi operators into the market at the same time as legalising Uber.

That option flagged the possibility of slugging consumers a $1 levy for all Uber and taxi rides.

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