HÀ NỘI – Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyễn Hồng Trường asked authorities of provinces where Uber and Grab were providing services to develop a comprehensive evaluation of the operation of the car-hailing services firms.

This is to raise appropriate measures for management, the minister said.

The number of vehicles providing passenger transportation services on Uber and Grab platforms was increasing rapidly while the legal framework was outdated, causing confusion in its management.

Trường said at the ministry’s conference to review the pilot project of applying technologies in connecting passenger transportation after more than one year of implementation on Thursday that the ministry was amending the Decree 86/NĐ-CP dated on September 10, 2014, about car transportation conditions with an aim to better manage this new transportation model.

Trường also asked provincial authorities to develop planning of vehicles to ensure an appropriate number on the road which was critical to prevent traffic congestion – a serious problem in major cities.

“We support the application of technologies in transportation but providers must be transparent in tax duties and ensure healthy competition,” Trường said.

According to Trần Bảo Ngọc, director of the ministry’s Department of Transport, the pilot e-hailing service project has been implemented in three cities, including Hà Nội, HCM City and Khánh Hòa from January 2016 with the participation of six companies with a total of more than 13,534 vehicles.

Of them, three submitted their own projects to the ministry, including Grab and Uber.

Rapid development, failure in management

Municipal transport departments said that the number of cars providing services via e-hailing platforms was growing rapidly and managing them was beyond their control.

Hà Huy Quang, deputy director of Hà Nội Department of Transport, proposed to temporarily halt allowing additional firms to participate in the pilot project for better evaluation.

“Managing Uber and Grab cars providing passenger transportation service was now out of our control,” Quang said.

Quang said foreign-run Uber and Grab registered to operate as car-hailing service platforms but they were operating like a taxi service provider while there was a shortage of management regulations.

Statistics showed that there were around 4,000 cars using Uber and Grab platforms in Hà Nội and 22,000 in HCM City.

According to Nguyễn Ngọc Giao from HCM City Department of Transport, the granting of under-nine seat cars providing services via e-hailing platforms should be temporarily halted to develop planning. In addition, these cars must carry logos for better management, Giao said.

The operation of Uber and Grab in Việt Nam caused a crisis for traditional taxi firms who were calling for management towards these platforms to be tightened to ensure fair competition.

Traditional taxi firms said that given the current regulations, they were unfairly treated as against Uber and Grab.

Nguyễn Văn Thanh, President of Việt Nam Automobile Transportation Association, said that it was important to raise appropriate policies to manage operations of Uber and Grab in Việt Nam.

A representative from Grab said that the company followed regulations on paying taxes and ensured that 80 per cent of cars on the road were occupied. – VNS