Chinese ride-hailing apps thriving despite ban

Back in 2014, with rumours flying that Uber was planning to start operating illegally in Vancouver, John Horgan called for an all-out war against the ride-hailing company.

Horgan, then the NDP opposition leader, tabled a private member’s bill called the Taxi Industry Safety and Fairness Act. The bill called for the maximum fine against an illegal Uber driver to be quadrupled from $5,000 to $20,000.

“Online companies should not be allowed to put passengers at risk and undercut our locally owned taxi industry,” Horgan fumed.

Uber backed down, not surprising when the governing Liberals were also threatening to release the hounds, including undercover passengers to catch illegal Uber drivers.

Both parties are obedient to the powerful taxi lobby.

Now it’s four years later, and Horgan is the premier. Uber is still shut out of the province. So is the rival Lyft app. But at least seven Chinese-language ride-hailing apps are doing a booming illegal business, especially in Richmond.

The B.C. transportation ministry flagged the following illegal ride-hailing companies in a July 18 advisory notice: Longmao, Udi Kuaiche, U Drop, RaccoonGo, GoKabu, Dingdang Carpool and AO Rideshare.

Enforcement action against these illegal services has not matched Horgan’s earlier rhetoric against Uber.

After one year of NDP rule, the government has handed out 36 infraction tickets with fines of $1,150 each.

That’s three tickets a month, and the government has not cranked up the fines to $20,000 as Horgan demanded against Uber.

The enforcement action seems like a minor annoyance to the illegal businesses, which promote their services on WeChat, a popular Chinese social-media and mobile-payment app.

“There are a lot more than 36 drivers advertising on there,” said Green party Leader Andrew Weaver.

Try hundreds. And the fines don’t seem to deter them.

Of the 36 tickets issued so far, none are for repeat offenders. It suggests offending drivers just keep driving without getting caught, or new drivers keep flooding into the illegal market.

The government’s hypocritical approach to the Chinese-language services is just the latest example of the NDP’s continuing ride-hailing failures. Now the government says ride-hailing won’t be legalized until 2019.

But Uber and Lyft will be subject to strict caps on the number of drivers allowed and municipal operating boundaries, the same as taxis.

These archaic rules are contrary to the ride-hailing business model in operation around the world.

They seem designed to keep Uber and Lyft out of the market, clearing the way for a taxi-controlled ride-hailing app called Kater, all while illegal Chinese-language apps defy B.C.’s weak enforcement of the law.