City takes aim at Uber

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Monday that it would further ramp up its efforts to ban Uber, saying the controversial taxi-hailing service was not part of the sharing economy.

“Uber does not go hand in hand with the city’s envisioned sharing economy since it does not abide by laws that require transportation businesses to take safety measures for the public. It only seeks profits by connecting riders with nunauthorized drivers,” the city government said in a press statement.

The city government said that the ride-hailing service put the public at risk, following criminal cases involving rapes by some Uber drivers in other regional markets.

“The city will crack down on those car rental businesses and individual drivers who cooperate with Uber Technologies.”

This comes after an ordinance aimed at keeping Uber out of the city was passed at the city council last Friday.

The ordinance, set to be finalized next week, will allow the authorities to fine Uber drivers up to 1 million won ($910).

“The city government hopes that the recently passed ordinance will be able to root out illegal transportation services while establishing order in the transportation industry,” said Kim Kyung-ho, the director of the city government’s urban transportation department.

Kim said the city would soon announce the details of penalties against Uber and its drivers.

The California-based firm, meanwhile, said it wanted to talk with Seoul’s taxi associations to resolve the issue.

In a letter to Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, Allen Penn, head of Uber’s Asia operations, said that the tech venture would like to cooperate with taxi companies, asking the mayor to intervene and encourage taxi associations to return to talks with Uber.

The company also urged the city government to establish a set of fair rules that reflect today’s technology trends.

“Uber is calling on the city to consider expanding the scope of ride-sharing because, as a company, we do not wish to operate in what amounts to a legal vacuum. We wish to be regulated,” he said in a statement.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)