Hanoi plans to impose taxi badges on Uber and Grab cars

The competition between traditional taxis and app-based taxis like Uber and Grab has continued unabated.

Conventional taxi companies have said they had to meet numerous requirements and pay various taxes and fees which Uber and Grab taxis aren’t required to and that this was unfair.

In Document 399, the Hanoi’s Department of Transportation said they had gathered opinions from the public and related agencies about the regulations over the operation of vehicles in the city.

They proposed that all cars for hire with less than nine seats, including Uber and Grab taxi, must have the required badges and follow all regulations that are currently applied to taxis.

The department said they hoped to get more views before stopping to receive opinions from February 20 to report to the city people’s committee.

The Ministry of Transport has declined to approve a proposal from Uber Vietnam Company to pilot an IT upgrade for its services because of a lack of authorisation and validation from its parent firm.

The ministry said it had inspected and dealt with various cars using the Uber app.

According to the ministry, Uber is registered as the developer so it is not authorised to work as a taxi company.

The ministry has asked Uber Vietnam to stop working with car owners and the ‘illegal’ operation in Vietnam until it completes all required procedures.