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Uber Taiwan

Taiwan considers blocking Uber as the app runs out of gas internationally

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By John McCarthy, Opinion Editor

December 22, 2014 | 2 min read

The transport minister of Taiwan has accused Uber of operating without a transport licence after admitting that authorities are investigating a way to block the service on Monday.

The ride-hailing app, which faced some form of ban in Spain, Thailand, France and India, is under investigation from Taiwan as the service is allegedly “in violation of the law”.

Reuters reported that Liang Guo Guo, deputy director of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, said on Monday that Uber only has a licence to provide information services – and not a transport service.

Liang said: “If Uber obtains the proper license it can continue operating in Taiwan. The company has not made clear how it plans to proceed.”

Furthermore, the minister added that if Uber continues to operate without, what the ministry deemed, the appropriate licence, the firm could face a fine of £61,000. This may fail to dent the app on the back of its most recent $25bn valuation.

If Uber continues to operate without a transport licence, Liang admitted that Taiwanese authorities may be forced to block access to the app and its accompanying website to block further transgressions.

This comes after the firm announced that it is looking to patent technology enabling it to surge prices according to demand on a local level on Saturday.

Uber Taiwan

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