UBER AND SIMILAR RIDE-SHARING APPS DON’T OPERATE IN B.C. — UNLESS YOU CAN READ CHINESE. IN THAT CASE, THERE ARE PLENTY OF OPTIONS, DESPITE THE BEST EFFORTS OF THE PROVINCES AND MUNICIPALITIES.
POPULARITY OF APPS HAS AUTHORITIES SCRAMBLING TO KEEP UP
Whenever Arthur Chen is running late for class at Simon Fraser University, he knows he’s just a few swipes and finger taps away from getting a ride.
Even though ride-sharing services like Uber are not currently sanctioned in the province, that hasn’t stopped competitors from setting up throughout B.C.’s Lower Mainland. Catering mostly to Chinese-speaking clientele, the companies operating in the shadows bear names like Raccoon Go, Udi Kuaiche and Dingdang Carpool and advertise on the popular Chinese-language social media platform, WeChat.
“There’s plenty of choices. … I will see which one is faster and which one is cheaper,” Chen said.
While users like Chen see convenience and savings, regulators see cause for concern. Over the past six months, B.C.’s Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure has issued two public advisories warning about the “illegal operation of passenger directed vehicles,” which officials say have been detected across Metro Vancouver and the Victoria area.
Besides Raccoon Go, Udi Kuaiche and Dingdang, the ministry has identified Longmao, U Drop, Gokabu and AO Rideshare among the other violators. “All of these apps are Chinese-language apps,” the ministry said in a statement this week.
“Passengers must know that when they hail a ride in a vehicle through these apps they are choosing to take a trip in a vehicle that has not been licensed to operate legally in British Columbia,” a ministry advisory stated in January.
“Current provincial and municipal regulatory requirements include a regular, government approved, safety inspection of the vehicle, insurance that will cover the carrying of paying passengers and a police background check for drivers.”
Because app companies are technically not doing anything illegal, authorities say they have been focusing their enforcement efforts on drivers. To date, the province says it has issued over 20 cease-and-desist orders and over 30 tickets, each costing drivers $1,150.
Much of the enforcement has been centred in the City of Richmond, where more than half the population is ethnically Chinese, according to census figures. So far this year, city inspectors have issued 57 tickets — totalling $21,850 — to 19 drivers for operating a business without a licence, failing to display a chauffeur’s permit and failing to display a tariff card, a spokesman said.
Richmond RCMP issued tickets to seven of those drivers for not having sufficient insurance, driving with an invalid licence, failing to display an “N” sticker to denote they are a new driver, and driving without consideration for others.
Mohan Kang, president of the B.C. Taxi Association, said he appreciates the enforcement efforts because the underground industry has created unfair competition.
“When there are two teams playing, they have to play by the same rules. How can you compete on an even playing field?” he said.
Also, drivers have not been properly vetted, potentially creating hazards, Kang said. “Any Joe who wants to be a driver, how do you know they’re a safe person?”
But whether the crackdown is having the desired effect is hard to say. A Richmond city staff report dated Jan. 23 stated: “Staff have identified five or six apps that can be accessed by the public to hail vehicles which are operating as illegal taxicabs. … While enforcement operations have been successful in the short term (drivers have been stopped and ticketed), it is too early to determine if these operations will have long term success and prevent drivers from entering the illegal market.”
Ge Zhang, director of product development for Richmondbased software developer Gokabu Technologies, which developed the Kabu ride-sharing app, said business continues to be “very steady.”
The company received some negative publicity earlier this year when a Global News report quoted a driver saying he’d been asked not to pick up customers who were not Chinese. But Zhang said no such policy exists and that the driver, who had limited English, merely wanted to avoid miscommunicating with non-Chinese passengers.
The Kabu website claims its platform serves an average of 10,000 people per month across Greater Vancouver. Zhang said those numbers are dated, but declined to provide new numbers, saying only that 1,500 drivers have registered with Kabu and that the number of daily trips fluctuates constantly.
Zhang said he disputes the suggestion by government officials that companies like his are connected to illegal activity.
“That’s something I don’t like. I think it’s a big space to argue because when you say something’s illegal, that means it’s criminal, against the law, right?” he said. “I would say we’re unregulated. … We call that a grey area.”
Zhang said he was unaware of any Kabu drivers who had been hit with fines in recent months, but did say the company recommends drivers get a commercial licence.
Why only recommend?
“I can’t just say, ‘Hey, go get a Class 4 driver’s licence before you apply … because there’s no regulation,” he said. “It’s only required for taxi drivers. Clearly this is not a taxi business.”
Earlier this year, a provincial all-party committee endorsed creating a regulatory framework for ride-hailing services. But new legislation won’t come until fall at the earliest.
Zhang said the current crop of underground ride-share providers welcomes regulation and the chance to officially “join the game.”
Until that framework is in place, the companies show no signs of stopping. And that suits Chen just fine. Even if a car smells or its driver is an angry mood, it doesn’t matter, he said.
“I don’t care about the service, I just care about how fast they can come.”
I WOULD SAY WE’RE UNREGULATED. … WE CALL THAT A GREY AREA.