The Department of Transport has confirmed the Uber fixed fares policy complies with regulations.
Taxi drivers have organized protests against the systems, and the minister Darragh O’Brien asked the National Transport Authority to assess the dispatch operator licensing framework.
An advisory committee recommended more data should be made availabile to the regulator and examined technology charges in taxi sector. Taxi drivers have suspended protests pending government talks.
The Department shared “In the response to his letter, the minister has been advised by the NTA that the charging of a fixed fare is in accordance with the applicable regulations. The committee is of the view that given changes in the taxi sector since the taxi regulation act 2013, there is a need to assess whether legislation is up to date regarding the roles of technology and booking app dispatch operators in the sector. With this in mind, the minister has requested that the NTA conducts a regulatory assessment of dispatch operator licensing in Ireland in the context of ensuring that the regulatory framework for this element of the overall sector is sufficiently up to date and robust to respond to developments in the SPSV market since the enactment of the Taxi Regulation Act 2013.”
