Hanoi, Danang and HCM City’s taxi associations have sent a joint petition to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, asking for him to intervene to guarantee a fair business environment.


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In the petition, the associations said that Uber and Grab operations violate Vietnam’s laws.

They specified that under the Law on Road Transport and Government Decree 86, taxi services are a conditional business model so vehicles need a badge, logo and meter; however, Uber and Grab cars do not have these. 
  
Meanwhile, Uber and Grab cars are allowed to use many streets which taxis are banned from. Taxis are tied to strict business regulations such as parking, registration licensing, roof-signage, listed fares and drivers’ uniform.

Uber is paying 3% value added tax, while local taxi firms are paying a 10% VAT and 20% corporate income tax. Uber now keeps 20% of a fare and sends 80% back to the driver.

Grab and Uber continue to offer huge discounts to passengers to grab market share from taxi companies. They are 25-50% cheaper than traditional taxis, and passengers are informed before the ride how much it will cost them.

The associations called authorities to set the same rules for Uber and Grab.

According to Do Quoc Binh, Chairman of Hanoi Taxi Association, over the past month, almost of 90 taxi firms in the city urged the association to seek the municipal Labour Confederation’s approval for their drivers to march through local streets in opposition to Uber and Grab. 

In HCM City, around 1,000 taxi drivers signed a petition which was sent to the municipal taxi association protesting against Uber and Grab. 

Earlier, the taxi associations of Hanoi, Danang and HCM City sent their petition to the Ministry of Transport to call for a more equal business environment for taxi services, however, no measures have been taken to date. So they decided to send their proposal to the prime minister.

Several taxi firms have quickly built and released mobile apps and software to improve their services and compete with Uber and Grab. Thanh Cong Taxi in Hanoi released a mobile app similar to Uber and Grab, allowing customers to call for taxis from Facebook.
  
dtinews