Despite its popularity, Uber also faces protests and penalties in Queensland

Monday, 20 of Jun 2016
By Jaqueline Zavoneli

The paid ridesharing service known as Uber is popular among those who don’t have own transport and are avoiding to pay expensive prices to get to distant places. In Queensland, the service hasn’t been allowed to operate but the process is underway. In the meantime, many people have opted for transport, which has competitive prices and certain facilities.

The service was launched here more than two years ago and Queensland can be either the last or the second-last state in the country to act on regulating it. Uber was legalized in NSW and the ACT last year and is due to be legalized in Western Australia and South Australia. On the other hand, the Northern Territory banned it.

The Brisbane Uber’s base fare has changed to a competitive price and is now $2, with $1 per km and $0.35 per minute costs. Meanwhile, Sydney Uber drivers, for example, work on a $2.50 base fare, and $1.45 per km and $0.40 per minute rates.

According to Lhays Morais, an economist who has been living in Brisbane for almost three years, the good price is the main reason to choose Uber service rather than a regular cab. “To me, it seems that the drivers work happy and they do it to achieve a goal in their lives, not to build a career”, said. She has already used the service on about 10 occasions and never had any problems. “It is much cheaper and has a lot of convenience such as the automatic discount of your credit card”.

Protests

As well as in some South America countries, like Brazil, Uber has faced a lot of protests from taxi driver, who have called into question the lack of regulation around the service. Ever since Uber entered the market, the taxi industry has claimed not only that Uber drivers had taken a part of their clients and revenue, but they were doing it illegally. Uber drivers are independent and are not under same regulation and fees as taxi drivers and, for this reason, can offer cheaper fares.

In Brisbane, more than 50 Uber drivers were fined during a holiday. The company had already paid more than $2 million in fines, according to the government. If paid, the fines would grant another $128,000 for the state.