Chin-Chia Hsu

Hello everyone, I am Chin-Chia Hsu (許錦嘉) from Taiwan Taxi. I am very honored to participate in this meeting today, and later I will be happy to share some views from our own fleet.

Chair, Commissioners, distinguished officials from the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, hello everyone.

Just now the MOTC official explained very clearly and completely; I will make a brief explanation here.

Uber in the whole world, when talking about its only innovative service, is the App.

Regarding this App thing, Taiwan Taxi has built such a platform since 2011, providing driver location tracking and safety services. Passengers can let friends and relatives know which vehicle they are in during the ride. Its safety is even more real-time; this is on the App.

What if taking a ride from the roadside? When the passenger gets in the car, a screen behind us displays relevant information about this driver, which can avoid what problem? Avoid the problem of mismatch between vehicle and driver. This is part of passenger safety protection.

Similarly on the media display machine, we also provide passenger feedback on service attitude and vehicle condition during the ride. Reports can be made through this mechanism, allowing us to see whether passenger needs are met during the driving process at that point in time.

Similarly for women returning late at night, we provide safety SMS text messages. By entering and sending their friends' and relatives' phone numbers, their family will receive a text message showing who boarded this vehicle at what point in time.

Earlier there was much discussion about taking care of the passenger end; Taiwan Taxi does not only do this. On this part we know very clearly that Taiwanese passengers are very diverse and foreign passengers are also numerous, so in addition to allowing passengers to choose cash payment, there is also traditional credit card payment, which not everyone has nor is everyone willing to choose. Besides letting them choose credit cards and cash, we also have EasyCard. On innovative services we are very diversified.

Furthermore, mentioned earlier was taking care of passengers, but do drivers need care? In fact, to a certain extent, especially at night when drivers encounter drunk customers or robberies, how should they call for help at that moment? Every vehicle has an emergency distress system where pressing a pedal button with a foot sends a notification for immediate assistance; this belongs to innovative services.

Earlier there was much discussion about the sharing economy. Of course, MOTC officials also gave some explanations on this part. For example from point A to point B, charging NT$200 or different payment methods per passenger: in the past, unmetered illegal taxis on highways weren't necessarily worse vehicles or worse service, but due to road rights and safety factors, we must establish relevant normative definitions.

Therefore, speaking of the sharing economy, it has actually existed in Taiwan for a long time; but that does not mean it can be legalized this way—it must still be regulated.

Let's discuss a hypothetical topic. Marijuana is a drug. Everyone might find it strange why I would talk about this here.

We clearly know marijuana cannot be consumed. But in countries like the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, and Switzerland, it is legal.

If conducted in Taiwan through App transactions, is this an innovative service? Can it be legalized?

Uber currently has operating rights in only a few US states. In terms of recognition, Uber is still inferior to marijuana.

To give another example, looking from domestic doctors: not everyone graduating from medical school can practice and see patients; one must pass and obtain a medical license. Applying this model, can past quack doctors be legalized just by using an App?

Today Chairman Wang from the association is also present. We absolutely welcome innovative services very much; as long as it's from a legal perspective, we are happy to compete.

However, we absolutely do not want illegal practices performed in the name of false innovation.