The battle in the ride-sharing market is heating up and the company atop the sector, Uber, is facing a number of challenges as competition enters the fray and its app service comes under deeper scrutiny.
Across the world, protests have erupted against Uber as it attempts to enter new markets, with taxi drivers frustrated that their incomes will be hit hard by the entrance of private vehicles taking customers from point A to point B.
In South Korea, Uber launched a trial period aimed at getting the service off the ground, but it has been met with anxiety by the government, who almost immediately dubbed the service illegal.
Seoul's city government said last month the existing booking service from Uber was illegal and the city could look at a ban on the service. Despite that, Uber said Aug. 29 it will launch the UberX app, which can be downloaded by all smartphone users and then used to call registered cars that are closest to them to get a ride.
If Seoul bans Uber, that would follow Berlin's recent banning of Uber from its streets, Tech Times reports. Uber would face a fine in Berlin if it continues to have the service available.
Fabien Nestmann, general manager at Uber in Germany, argued the decision "is not progressive and it's seeking to limit consumer choice for all the wrong reasons. As a new entrant we're bringing much-needed competition to a market that hasn't changed in years."
In London, Uber is announcing a number of price drops for its service, which will now begin at a cost of £5 British pounds a ride. This is viewed by many as a serious threat to traditional taxi services. Drivers earlier this summer staged a massive protest against Uber in the UK capital and urged local authorities to establish regulations similar to traditional taxi services.
"The company also announced minimum fares would now start at £5 in London, and it emphasized that splitting the cost with another person over a short distance would be cheaper than taking the tube at peak times," wrote one analyst.
The anxiety Uber is facing from local governments currently is something the company is likely to be forced to deal with in the near future as it attempts to broaden the number of cities it does business in. But with local taxi drivers protesting and demanding local governments bulk up restrictions on Uber and enforce similar requirements on Uber drivers that apply to taxi drivers -- including requiring insurance for the vehicle and passengers -- Uber is being forced to deal with the traditional aspects of ride-sharing.
London has, in many ways, been central to the ongoing debate over Uber's future. As the ride-sharing app service largely undercuts local taxi drivers, which has been seen in the U.S., it does put a massive dent in the traditional drivers' earnings. Still, the popularity of the app may win out, according to a number of analysts, who believe that once Uber is able to deal with local governments and tweak its service to be more inclusive of those demands, the service is likely to take off.
