Norwegian taxi association hunts down Uber drivers: report

Norway's taxi association has reported 105 Uber drivers for violation of the Professional Transport Act and handed over the name list to police, the newspaper Aftenposten reported on Wednesday.

"We hope that this can stop illegal transport, because Uber is an illegal taxicab and those who drive do not have the required licence," the association's leader Oystein Trevland said.

Uber, a transportation network company which launched its business in Norway in 2014, is critical of the association's procedure.

"We question the method that is used to dig up personal information and regularly hunts partner drivers only because they have used UberPOP service to offer others a safe, affordable, and easy way to get around Oslo," Carl Edvard Endresen, managing director of Uber Norway, told Aftenposten.

Trevland said the taxi association had acquired the name list of customers who were driven by Uber. When people order an Uber ride, they receive a receipt with the picture, first name of the driver and the register number of the car.

"We hope that our complaint can be of help to police because Uber must be stopped. This regards both safety for passengers and equal competitive conditions," Trevland said.

He has big expectations that police will continue to stop what he characterises as "pirate taxis."

"An Uber drive costs a good deal less than regular taxi drives, and this is, among other things, due to the fact that Uber does not require either licence, obligation to use taximeter, professional liability insurance, or public service pension plan for their employees," Trevland said.

The Norwegian taxi industry includes 6,200 companies and 17,000 employees, according to Aftenposten.

Nobody knows whether the drivers are Uber's employees or independent drivers, Trevland said, pointing out that Uber drivers are not obligated to submit a report to the authorities.

"That is why nobody controls whether they pay tax. This is something that decides on the price difference between Uber and us," Trevland said.

The association could not document that Uber drivers do not pay tax, but pointed at the situation in Sweden.

"The authorities there (in Sweden) got involved and found out that many do not pay tax. And we reckon that the situation here is similar," Trevland said.

According to the association, Uber's business is a threat to Norwegian welfare society because of the absence of tax income. During the last year, police fined and took the registration from almost 100 Uber drivers, and many have lost their driving licences.

Endresen said it was "difficult to comment on the complaints directly without the details about what the taxi association thinks they have revealed here."

"We think as before, that UberPOP operates within the current Norwegian legislation and that there should be a separation between shared transport and traditional taxi services. As we understand it, there are no court decisions that change that perspective," he said.

"Uber wants to be regulated. We think that there is a need for upgrade of legislation concerning personal transportation in Norway. Regulations should be made with regard to consumers. There should be requirements for safety and the way to be paved for competition regarding new business models, new technology and sharing economy," Endresen said.

"Guidelines should be entered in Norwegian regulation that third parties such as Uber shall report partner drivers' income to the tax authorities," he added.

Endresen also expressed hope that the publicly established sharing economy committee will present "some good suggestions as to how the sharing economy could be regulated in Norway." Endit