The service operates on a smart-phone application connecting prospective passengers with drivers.
Uber app
The ministry said Uber taxis are not registered, nor do they use regulated fare meters, but charge according to the destination request as calculated by the app, and the closest driver available to meet that need.
Those using the Uber network pay on average about 20% less than regulated cab fares, but are required to use international currency cards such as MasterCard and Visa. In turn, the vehicle owner pays a 20% commission to Uber.
The Uber network was launched in 2009 and presently operates in 232 cities in 50 countries. It began in Vietnam in July, rapidly expanding in HCM City by beating established taxi services on both price and availability.
Uber drivers must use smartphone for their work
Uber communications head for South Asia and India Karun Arya said that Uber has signed contracts with some 200 transportation companies in HCM City, adding that all were reliable partners with business certificates.
Arya said users pay by account, "not cash", so "it's easy for local authorities to retrieve their tax", indicating the service itself was not obliged to keep track of driver income.
However, Vietnamese authorities have deemed Uber operations illegal.
Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Hong Truong said Uber drivers are not registered as taxi drivers and cannot carry paying passengers because they are not insured for that purpose.
“Despite the lower fees and more convenient services, it’s really dangerous for passengers to use such kinds of unlicensed taxi services,” said Tran Bao Ngoc, head of the Ministry of Transport’s Transportation Department.
An Uber driver's car inspected
Ngoc said established traditional taxi services might benefit by creating software like Uber's, but such taxi company operations must be put under the government’s control.
The HCM City Taxi Association, members of which have been hit by the expansion of Uber services, has urged a solution, going as high as the central government.
On November 28, traffic police in HCM City confiscated the license of an alleged Uber taxi driver for “doing unlicensed business”.
