{"id":432964,"date":"2020-09-11T15:57:22","date_gmt":"2020-09-11T13:57:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=432964"},"modified":"2020-09-11T15:57:22","modified_gmt":"2020-09-11T13:57:22","slug":"big-changes-proposed-for-uber-and-other-e-hailing-services-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/technology\/432964\/big-changes-proposed-for-uber-and-other-e-hailing-services-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Big changes proposed for Uber and other e-hailing services in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Department of Transport has published a new <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transport.gov.za\/documents\/11623\/189609\/empowerment_discussionSep2020.pdf\/94469ce5-573c-4273-b226-5a87e8c7c8a9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">discussion paper<\/a><\/strong> on South Africa&#8217;s taxi industry and its role in the wider transport industry.<\/p>\n<p>While the bulk of the document focuses on empowering taxi drivers and owners, it also sets out possible regulations for other sectors such as e-hailing.<\/p>\n<p>The document states that through regulation, e-hailing services will be subjected to tighter rules which should include the following requirements:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Providers should only participate in the South African market if they <strong>operate through a South African registered company<\/strong>;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>All its financial transactions must be <strong>through a South African registered bank<\/strong>;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The South African company through which the provider will be trading will ensure that at least <strong>25% equity is held by the corporate entity chosen as empowerment vehicle<\/strong> of choice at all times.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In a separate <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transport.gov.za\/documents\/11623\/189609\/regulation_discussion_Sep2020.pdf\/786c1d7f-65e3-4932-8563-0415d27b8b99\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">discussion document<\/a><\/strong>, the department said that taxi systems across the world are being challenged by companies such as Uber, which has taken advantage of innovation, technology, and marketing strategies.<\/p>\n<p>The department said that these companies have also used a &#8216;peculiar interpretation&#8217; of current legislation possibilities and limitations, for purposes of offering services that in many aspects are superior to traditional ones provided and which are in high demand by users.<\/p>\n<p>To address these issues, it cited regulations used by Mexico City around services such as Uber and Cabify. These include the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Platforms must register with the Secretary of Mobility through the payment of 4,617.50 national currency (R3,594.45).<\/li>\n<li>Car operators must be registered to receive a permit to offer their services.<\/li>\n<li>Drivers must contribute 1.5% of each ride to a transportation fund created by the Government of the Federal District \u201cThe Taxi, Mobility and Pedestrian Fund\u201d destined to the public works related to mobility.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8220;E-hailing mobility service has become popular and preferable by a considerable segment of the society. Users prefer the convenience provided by e-hailing service, its safety and security incentives and the fact that it fits perfectly into the user\u2019s schedule and location comfortability,&#8221; the department said,<\/p>\n<p>Like many countries around the world, South Africa is in the process of regulating the e-hailing services, it said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The NLTA Amendment Bill brings the e-hailing services into the same arena as metered taxis and allows these to operate either a meter or an e-hailing application interchangeably.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The law further empowers the Minister to make regulations for standards or requirements for e-hailing applications or similar technology. This effectively creates e-hailing as a sub-set of the metered taxi category for purposes of operating licences.&#8221;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/motoring\/431160\/new-alcohol-rules-will-just-do-more-damage-to-the-economy-experts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">New alcohol rules will just do more damage to the economy: experts<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Department of Transport has published a new discussion paper on South Africa&#8217;s taxi industry and its role in the wider transport industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":433004,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9878],"tags":[26,6457],"class_list":["post-432964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-headline","tag-uber"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=432964"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":433028,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432964\/revisions\/433028"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/433004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=432964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=432964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=432964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}