Even though the Ministry of Transport allowed to implement Uber and Grab pilot projects, the authorities of Khanh Hoa Province are determined to ban Grab due to alleged fears of congestion.

On September 17, Grab Taxi announced that they had officially operated in Khanh Hoa on their website with various discount programmes until October.

Nguyen Van Dan, head of Khanh Hoa Department of Transport said Grab Taxi was violating the laws as they tried to recruit drivers even though the department hadn't issued licence yet.

Dan went on to say that Khanh Hoa Province was planning to scale down existing taxi firms instead of expanding or opening a new service. Khanh Hoa has 14 taxi firms with 1,250 cars. The authorities also claim that Nha Trang City is overcrowded.

Many people, who borrowed money to buy cars to work for Uber and Grab in Vietnam, were shocked after they were taxed tens of millions of VND after several years because they must register as an individual household business in order to work.

Competition between traditional taxis and Uber and Grab also continues in Khanh Hoa. The traditional taxi firms have reacted strongly to the Grab pilot project.

Khanh Hoa People's Committee asked the Ministry of Transport to end the pilot project on contracted passenger transportation in five provinces and cities, including Hanoi, HCM City, Danang, Khanh Hoa and Quang Ninh, from 2016 to 2018.

Khanh Hoa authorities complained that Grab hadn't begun their pilot as scheduled from January 2016. During this time, VinaSun taxi firm started a similar programme so Khanh Hoa authorities worked with VinaSun.

Dan said the deputies in their province were upset with congestion.

Khanh Hoa authorities want Grab Taxi to work with traditional taxi firms rather than risking getting more cars on the street and they would only allow implementing the project when there is a consensus with both Grab and traditional taxi firms.

A representative of Grab Taxi said their operation is legal in accordance with Electronic Transaction Act and Resolution 52 issued in 2013 about e-commerce. They were registered with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and help effectively connect passengers and drivers.

dtinews