Ministry downplays Uber, Grab ban

Thứ Ba, 03/10/2017, 20:09

Uber and Grab are in a fair competition with traditional taxis, so they operate within the confines of existing laws, said a representative from the Ministry of Transport following the Hanoi Taxis Association proposal to stop the pilot operation of the services.

The number of Uber and Grab taxis has reached 50,000 nationwide

According to the representative, the ministry had not yet received the association’s proposal which had been mentioned by many local newspapers.   

Last week, the association chairman Do Quoc Binh signed a petition to be sent to management agencies, asking for stopping of the pilot operation of Uber and Grab in Vietnam.

According to the association, in the 18 months since when the plan was carried out, the number of Uber and Grab taxis has reached 50,000 nationwide, including around 25,000 in Hanoi. They claimed that this had added more pressure to traffic jams in Hanoi and HCM City.

Uber and Grab are estimated to earn VND1.5 trillion (USD68 million) in revenue a month. Uber and Grab pay a tax level of 4.5%, which means that each of them has to pay VND67.5 billion (USD3 million) in taxes per month. However, in reality, Uber has only paid around VND10 billion (USD445,454) in taxes since it started operations in Vietnam.

Meanwhile, Uber and Grab receive 20% of total revenues, meaning they each repatriate some VND3.6 trillion (USD163.6 million) annually.

In a talk with DTiNews, the transport ministry representative said that the ministry has not yet received the association petition.

Regarding the association’s opinion that Uber and Grab drivers were not as closely managed as traditional taxis, he said that this was inaccurate, the app-based taxi service uses electronic contracts instead 

of paper like traditional taxis. Uber and Grab taxis are required for business registration and are also supervised.

“The Directorate of Roads of Vietnam is in charge of supervising Uber and Grab trips and many violations have been detected and been dealt with in line with the law,” he noted.

In terms of Uber and Grab’s tax violation suspicion, he said that if this happens, tax agencies will have to investigate.

To date, eight taxi firms have applied app-based service to compete with Uber and Grab. Meanwhile, many others have still maintained their old way of business. It is impossible to stop Uber and Grab operations as they are said to offer fair competition.

Many taxi drivers have turned to working for Uber and Grab, Binh said that this is their decision and they can choose what is better for them.

DTiNews