The Korean taxi lobby is trying to take out another ride sharing company:
Taxi drivers rally in front of the National Assembly in Seoul on Oct. 23, 2019, to call for the suspension of operations of ride-hailing startup Tada. (Yonhap)
A taxi industry body urged Tada, a ride-hailing service, to terminate its business on Tuesday, a day after prosecutors indicted the company’s heads on charges of running a transportation business without a license and declared the app-based business illegal.
In a joint press conference with independent lawmaker Kim Kyung-jin, Kook Chul-hee, chief of the Seoul Private Taxi Association, said “the prosecution’s indictment brought the illegality of these taxi operators to light.”
Kim and Kook also asked the government to suspend Tada’s operation, which it claims has made a mockery of law and order, saying it would be dereliction of the government’s duty if it did not do so.
Back in May when the Korean government announced a resolution to the fight between taxi drivers and the Kakao ride sharing app, I predicted this issue would come up again. That is because this picture clearly indicates both sides were not happy with the agreement and tensions are now boiling over again:
After more taxi drivers resort to extreme methods of protest, an organization comprised of the government, ruling party and taxi companies was created to find a compromise. After 45 days of discussions, the taxi and carpool companies finally reached an agreement on March 7.
In their agreement, carpooling hours were limited to 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., weekends and national holidays excluded. For the taxi industry, parties agreed to reduce the number of taxi drivers with advanced age and implement a monthly salary for taxi drivers. Not all parts of the agreement were carried out accordingly.
“After announcing that a social agreement was made, we haven’t had a working session, not one,” said Kang Shin-pyo, the leader of the National Taxi Labor Union, in an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo. In the agreement, there was a section where parties agreed to create an organization for discussion between the ruling Democratic Party (DP) and the companies.
The National Assembly has not made much progress either. The Land Infrastructure and Transport Committee held a subcommittee meeting to examine the bill on March 27, but could not reach a conclusion due to objections from the opposition Liberty Korea Party. The discussion is currently suspended.
