Uber finds peace in Singapore while facing brickbats in the rest of Asia

Uber cannot catch a break. Despite nailing US$1.2 billion in their most recent round of funding, they’re starting to realize that money cannot solve all problems. Their arrival in Asia continues to be fraught with resistance from all quarters – governments, taxi companies, and even banks. That’s not too different from the reception they are receiving back in the US.

Here’s a round-up of what has happened with Uber in Asia so far. The national vehicular regulatory body in the Philippines declared Uber to be operating in violation of the country’s Public Service Law in February. The Jakarta Transportation Agency in Indonesia has called for a ban on Uber’s service in the city because it doesn’t have a taxi permit, as has Seoul’s government, which declared Uber to be illegal under South Korean law. India’s central bank has released an order which effectively requires Uber to shut down in India by October 31 if it does not find a way to comply with the laws concerning online payments. To top it all off, an association representing the local taxi industry in Malaysia is now rounding up authorities to take action against Uber.

That leaves us with the tiny red dot of Southeast Asia – Singapore seems to be the one country in Asia that has welcomed Uber, and has apparently had little trouble coming to terms with how the service might interfere with the domestic taxi industry.

At the cutting edge

Singapore’s government is known for its acceptance, and even encouragement, of disruptive technology. The progress of the bitcoin-oriented startups in the island-state says it all. A bitcoin startup from Singapore recently became the first in Asia to make it into a prestigious Silicon Valley-based accelerator program. Just a couple of months ago, the Association of Crypto-Currency Enterprises and Startups, Singapore (ACCESS) was formed to represent various bitcoin- and other cryptocurrency-related businesses locally.

Singapore’s strides in cryptocurrency can partly be attributed to the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) clear-cut regulation of virtual currency intermediaries that operate within its jurisdiction. As Wee Horng Ang, operations head at Bitcoin exchange itBit, puts it: the new move provides “regulatory clarity for bitcoin”.

The question now is whether the Singapore government will decide to apply the same approach to Uber. A Land Transport Authority (LTA) spokesperson tells Tech in Asia that they consider third-party taxi apps to be providing “another option of booking a taxi”, and as such, they are now “reviewing the impact of third-party applications on the taxi industry, and how it may benefit taxi drivers and commuters in matching demand with supply of taxi services”.

The spokesperson highlights two conditions that LTA believes will safeguard the interests of local commuters:

All taxis in Singapore are required to be properly insured and the conduct of taxi drivers is also [to be] regulated under the Taxi Driver Vocational Licence (TDVL) framework. Under the TDVL framework, taxi drivers are not allowed to overcharge passengers by collecting fares in excess of those set by their taxi companies.

The topic of insurance came up as a point against Uber in Kuala Lumpur, with the honorary-secretary of a local transportation company, Mohd Salleh Mat Zin, emphasizing that licensed taxi operators in Malaysia must pay insurance premiums up to four times higher than private vehicles.

Then again, it is also not certain if LTA classifies Uber cars as taxis. LTA’s spokesperson points out that Uber ties up with car rental and limousine companies to provide its transportation services in Singapore, and adds this qualifier:

These are private hire cars and such cars are not registered to individuals. These private hire cars do not ply for hire on any road. Neither do such cars take passengers at taxi stands/stops.