Regulating Still
While auto tech companies in autonomous driving and car sharing sectors, such as Uber, Tesla, Lyft and Didi Chuxing, are recently emerging as global promising businesses, domestic auto tech companies have remained stationary for more than four years being fettered by tangled traffic regulations. Accordingly, industry experts point out that the government’s regulation relaxation policy is ending in an empty talk.
According to industry sources on Feb. 13, Korean auto tech firms now provide services similar with four years ago when Uber kicked out the domestic market in 2013. When Uber launched the service in the domestic market in 2013, taxi businesses immediately opposed to it. The government also slammed the Uber service for violating the Passenger Transport Business Act as the company allowed drivers without taxi licenses to use the paid-for system. Uber finally closed down the UberX service, in which ordinary people shuttle around paying passengers. The services like the UberX cannot appear in the domestic market for four years now since then.
Kakao is considered a leading domestic company in the auto tech sector with its Kakao Taxi service. However, Kakao cannot even dare to launch the car sharing service provided by individuals under the current system. The government has continued to discuss the introduction of meter systems using apps, instead of taximeters, for more than four years.
An official from Kakao said, “The taximeter is required to install in taxis according to the Automobile Management Act. So, it is impossible to introduce app meter systems under the current law.” Moreover, auto tech companies in Korea cannot flexibly settle charges during specific times and specific circumstances when there is a growing demand of users. This is because they need to charge fares set by local governments according to the Automobile Management Act.
In addition, “Poolus,” a carpooling service and “Call Bus,” a late-night chartered bus service, have been dogged by controversy over unlawfulness. However, the Poolus is available only with limited time spans thanks to an exceptional clause that people can share rides during rush hour, and the Call Bus is also available in only limited regions and time spans after long-time discussions with Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.