In South Korea, ride-hailing apps face off against powerful taxi unions and transport laws
- National Assembly revises law that had allowed Tada to operate, leading to company’s shutdown
- Koreans now face limited private transport options, with taxi unions growing in influence as elections approach
South Korean ride-hailing app Tada thought its worries were over in February, when a Seoul court ruled that it could operate legally. But it has now ceased operations after the Korean National Assembly, the country’s parliament, on March 6 went against the ruling by passing a bill to limit its service.
The Assembly on March 6 revised the legislation to restrict such services to tour purposes only. After the so-called Tada restriction law was passed, the service announced that it was going out of business, adding that its 1.7 million users would be disappointed.
Seoul’s start-up companies have criticised the Assembly for protecting the taxi industry instead of supporting innovation before next year’s general election.
“Whenever it seems that the government is on the cusp of changing the transport law, it falls under pressure and doesn’t go through with its commitment,” said Yu Jeong-whon, a professor of transport systems engineering at Ajou University.