Why Taxi Drivers Are Making So Much Fuss?

Ash-Say on 10/09/2015 - 12:17
Last edited 10/09/2015 - 13:15

I read an article http://www.smh.com.au/national/taxi-strike-cabbies-across-au… on SMH this morning and it is very annoying to see this attitude.

I personally know at least 12 taxi drivers who make more than $150K per year but they pay less than $1500 tax and they also claim Centrelink payments for being low income earner. From what I understand, majority of taxi income is cash intensive and therefore there is no paper trail.

I personally always pay cash for taxi use as credit card attracts high fees and I assume all other Ozbargainers are in the same boat.

Is this fuss all about the competition where Uber is taking away business from the taxi drivers?

If taxi drivers cry about Uber being illegal then isn’t tax evasion and not declaring the correct income also illegal?

Poll Options

  • 97
    You pay cash for taxi use
  • 93
    You pay taxi via credit card
Education & Work

Comments

  • stargalaxy on 10/09/2015 - 12:31
    +11

    $150K income seem a bit high, assume the driver works everyday, that is $412 per day income, after fuel and other expense.

      • QuickToThePointless on 10/09/2015 - 12:35
        +25

        Properties back home? So they are tax evaders, welfare cheats, and illegally sending this ill gotten money out of the country?

        It is indeed, as you put it "very annoying to see this attitude"

      • stargalaxy on 10/09/2015 - 12:36
        +7

        Not saying you are lying as I really don't know, but have to say taxi fare is really expensive in Australia, so it is possible. I seldom take taxi but did notice a short 15 minutes (about 6KM) trip cost me more than $25 or more.

        • Ash-Say on 10/09/2015 - 12:46
          +2

          I guess responses relevance with Uber has been forgotten..lol

        • RockyRaccoon on 10/09/2015 - 13:12
          +4

          @bluecasper: are you getting drivers confused with Owner drivers.

          Generally drivers make very little. Its the owner/driver who makes the money although they do have to pay out for the taxi plate

        • jaykay on 10/09/2015 - 18:10
          +1

          @RockyRaccoon:

          spoke to a few drivers NOT driver/owners, one told me he worked 5 days a week and only makes $400… don't know if he telling fibs not not though

        • bobbified on 11/09/2015 - 10:09
          +2

          @jaykay:

          That's probably the amount that is on their tax return because it's gone through cabcharges or credit card and they have no choice but to report it.. lol

        • birdmaster on 11/09/2015 - 10:14
          +4

          @jaykay: Its $400 a day because i personally know some drivers too and one of them i know he showed me one night he made almost over $750.

          If they have bussy season they make each day for sure over $500 and quite season for sure above $300 after all the expenses and rent of taxi and fule.

        • jaykay on 11/09/2015 - 19:26
          +5

          @birdmaster:

          Wow

          Time to change my occupation to a taxi driver lol

        • timon on 14/09/2015 - 08:22

          @birdmaster:If they actually earn 150k per year then I should quit my finance job and start driving taxi. Let me tell you i was once a taxi triver and it sucks. 12 hours swift and take home is so less then $10/ hr. @Jaykay: if you think they earn 750 per day then why dont you go and drive taxi.

        • IVI on 14/09/2015 - 11:08
          +1

          @bluecasper: Just saw a Tweet on:

          • NYC Judge delivers win for UBER

          A reply was, UBER brings:

          • FlexiJobs to Drivers
          • Quicker Responses to Users
          • Excellent use of Technology
          • $$ to Reward UBER's Creativity
          • TaxiDriver can Join It
          • Taxes for Cities
          • Reduced Entry-Costs (over costly taxi plates)

          Win Win Win Win, etc.

        • Fred Smith on 21/09/2015 - 07:04

          $25 for 15 minutes work is $100 per hour. Get in any tradie and you'll pay that much or more. Plus the tradie doesn't have the expenses involved with keeping a taxi on the road which are really high. Have a look at driving instructors and couriers. They are mostly sub-contractors and therefore incur all the expenses of owning, maintaining and run their vehicle as well as paying a percentage of their income to the business and of course the taxwoman:). I was a driving instructor and worked 6am to 8pm 7 days a week. I wasn't making a mint I can assure you. I was struggling to pay off the lease on the vehicle and had to live in shared accommodation. No holidays, no long term service, no benefits of any kind. Plus I had to sit around for an hour or two on weekdays mid-morning and mid afternoon when nobody wants a driving lesson. Despite enjoying the work I eventually decided there was no future in it and found far better paying employment that had the security and benefits most people take for granted. I don't regret the three years I put in, but if anyone is considering that type of work as a lifetime career then maybe they should have another think. I'm sure there are some who have done it for years and have enjoyed it and would recommend it, but I doubt there are many who could claim to be well off.

      • ozhunter on 10/09/2015 - 18:24
        +3

        What properties they have is irrelevant to what they earn. Maybe their 150k(if they do earn that much, though I think that is rubbish) is before expenses. Don't believe everything someone tells you.

        If taxi drivers cry about Uber being illegal then isn’t tax evasion and not declaring the correct income also illegal?

        It is illegal.

        • Eivad on 11/09/2015 - 13:33
          +3

          @birdmaster: Sure, on a Friday or Saturday night a cabbie can make $80 an hour. How often would you get the Parramatta to City / Airport routes? Maybe one a day if you're lucky.

          But what about on a Monday afternoon? Or Tuesday after work? I don't believe cabbies can make $150k a year (or $412 per day) unless they work multiple shifts, 7 days a week, and basically sacrifice all of their spare time.

          Having said that, I'm all for Uber and the increased convenience / better price that they offer to customers. It does need to be regulated though.

        • Handsoff on 11/09/2015 - 13:50
          +5

          @birdmaster: $80p/h aye? You've never seen a massive line of taxi's doing nothing but waiting? Must get paid well to do nothing but sit around waiting….

        • lonewolf on 11/09/2015 - 17:05
          +4

          @birdmaster:

          A close friend of mine who works at Google as a Network Engineer is contemplating quitting his job as he had started driving a taxi a couple of nights a week for extra cash (newborn baby and wife doesnt work) and is now stunned at how much he makes from the taxi shifts and wants to do more of that.

          I was like WTF! I would love to work for Google….

        • FatBlanket on 13/09/2015 - 16:35
          +1

          @lonewolf: Odd that the taxi driver occupation is so lucrative yet you only see indians/muslims/old greek guys doing it. I can't remember the last time I saw a white taxi driver. Maybe the taxi cab owner makes decent money but that's another story .

        • Jackson on 13/09/2015 - 22:58
          +2

          @FatBlanket: Thats because it's a shit job, and by shit job I mean you are cooped up in a car all day, driving around doing your head in, and occasionally getting runners and addicts in your car. Plus if you don't like talking to people or you get a string of losers it's probably boring as. It also has no prospects of career progression unless you save a bunch of money and start buying cabs and having others drive. If you are sick or something happens to you then you probably don't get paid unless you organise your own insurance and you probably (someone might be able to confirm this) have to pay your own super and holiday pay.

          No offence meant to anyone, there Al lots of shit jobs out, if we didn't have people to do the shitty jobs, we'd be up shit creek ourselves. If the pay wasn't decent probably no one would do it.

        • lonewolf on 14/09/2015 - 12:06

          @FatBlanket:

          A friend of mine (white guy) who drives the garbage trucks in the early mornings, told me how much he gets paid and its good money. He left his normal 9-5 job for that because he has a truck licence and said due to that and the nature of the job he gets paid far more than his previous job plus even though it means he needs to wake up damn early, he can finish up quite early and have the rest of the day for himself. I guess the money is due to the hours as well as the job itself as not many people would go around wanting to say they are garbage collectors but the money is really good.

    • nx1nx1 on 10/09/2015 - 13:23
      +8

      I know heaps of cabbies too. this is pretty much what they say as well. its a good income. but they work long hours. and after a while have regular customers.

      • SlickMick on 11/09/2015 - 07:43

        and prime time too. I never see any of my cabby friends coz they're at work.
        (My cabby friends are broke, but honest. I wonder whether there is a correlation??)

    • mobius on 12/09/2015 - 08:07

      Well maybe the people he knows own more than one taxi.

  • QuickToThePointless on 10/09/2015 - 12:32
    +20

    You should report welfare cheats - if you dont you are just as guilty!

    Sounfs like you could report enough people to get our national budget back in the black!

    • Ash-Say on 10/09/2015 - 12:36
      +6

      How can centrelink act if there is no paper trail?

      Money is earned in cash and transferred by them in cash when they go overseas with wives/ 3-4 kids each year.

      • QuickToThePointless on 10/09/2015 - 12:38
        +9

        Taxman can audit - if what u say is true, these criminals would probably do 6 months in prison.

        • Davo1111 on 10/09/2015 - 17:53

          +1

          They can acquire deposits and transfer data.

          If someone is transferring a few hundred a day out of the country, and only "earns" $40/day from centrelink, something is suspect.

      • nikey2k27 on 13/09/2015 - 07:40

        Video PI,TAXI company system booked job and location tracking data. they put light on went customer in cab company keep that data.

    • bradsmrbetty on 11/09/2015 - 08:59
      +10

      How do you actually report welfare cheats? I know a women who still reports to centrelink that she lives at my address but move out three years ago. She came around when i had been at my current address for about 3 months and asked if I could redirect a few bits of mail to her new address as her redirection had just run out and she need these bank documents. I did this a three to four time times before stopping (as the same mail was coming in.)

      I had been getting centrelink letters for over a year when one had got wet and I could see all the details (personally I don't open other people's mail). So I rung centrelink and explained, they said due the privacy laws we cannot discuss and there is nothing we can do!

      Long winded story I know but seriously how do you report if centrelink don't want to know?

      • secondstory on 11/09/2015 - 13:51
        +2

        How long ago did you try? Maybe they didn't have the service available to do so at the time or the person who took your call was not fully informed.

        http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/information/fraud-a…
        https://www.centrelink.gov.au/wps/portal/clk_common/TORS#sta…
        https://www.dss.gov.au/contact/reporting-suspected-fraud

        • bradsmrbetty on 11/09/2015 - 18:54
          +2

          About 4 months ago I called them. Centrelink representative put me on hold to speak to her manager. Then came back with privacy laws prevent me from speaking to anyone other than an authorised person.
          I will check out the links encase I ever get mail for the previous tenant again.
          Thanks

        • geoffellis on 12/09/2015 - 01:12

          I had an issue less than 2 months ago - someone was creating centrelink loan applications (or whatever it is you do at centrelink) or and used my phone number on their application.

          Centrelink didn't care. Just said it didn't matter. They couldn't look up or do anything about someone using my phone number, I think they said they've stopped the notifications. don't know what that means exactly though

          Kinda annoying, cause the same asshole has been using my phone number for a year.

        • RefusdClassification on 14/09/2015 - 21:11
          -1

          Public servants don't seem to care, as long as it is the government's money that is being wasted. If they were being fleeced though, it would be a different story.

      • maximum on 11/09/2015 - 17:14
        +2

        Put all mail return to sender not at this address. That way any payments will be cancelled whereabouts unknown.

        • bradsmrbetty on 11/09/2015 - 18:48

          Thanks for the suggestion :) I did do this for a while I was still getting mail, I haven't got anything for a few months now.

      • abh_gup on 12/09/2015 - 16:27

        @bradsmrbetty: i agree with you. I tried reporting once. Instead, they took down my details, took my time, used up some of my phone credit, cited some privacy rules, blah blah and said 'sorry, can't put a note on file/follow up'. I don't bother with it much now. Though I do believe in ethics.

      • [Deactivated] on 13/09/2015 - 20:20

        Same they seem to not give a shit

  • fruit on 10/09/2015 - 12:44

    I thought the license costs $150k?

    • Ash-Say on 10/09/2015 - 12:46
      +1

      Licence costs around $350k in Sydney.

      • fruit on 10/09/2015 - 12:49
        +1

        http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/cost-of-buying-a-taxi-licence-in-s…

        Is transfer value the actual cost though?

        • Ash-Say on 10/09/2015 - 12:51

          I have quoted the price which one of the taxi drivers told me two weeks ago.

        • [Deactivated] on 10/09/2015 - 15:29
          +5

          you can't buy new licences, the numbers are fixed to stop the market being flooded with taxis to the point where nobody can make any money, however it means the existing licences are quite valuable.

        • SlickMick on 11/09/2015 - 07:45
          +4

          @terminal2k:
          This is the main issue with Uber - it makes a license devalue by $350K.

        • meumax on 11/09/2015 - 08:51
          +12

          @terminal2k:
          Therefore restricting licences is an artificial limit imposed from above. The uber argument is to let the market decide the price and the market seems to be saying that taxi rides are not as valuable as current taxi owners would like them to be.

          I can see why existing owners would push back against this disruption of their industry. But for the rest of us we all benefit from cheaper taxi fares.

      • nikey2k27 on 13/09/2015 - 07:42

        State licence costs this much.

  • ChocDooder on 10/09/2015 - 12:51
    +39

    In order for a taxi driver to make more than $150 000 a year, he or she would need to be making $150k/(52*40) ~= $72 an hour, assuming they were working 40 hour weeks.

    According to http://www.taxifare.com.au/rates/australia/sydney/ , the flag fall rate is $3.60, and the distance rate is $2.16. Assuming 2 (unbooked) trips an hour, this means the taxi driver would have to be driving around 33 kilometers an hour, constantly, in order to reach this $72/hour threshold. This is not factoring in the fact that at 1L/10km of petrol usage, you'd also have to pay ~$3.50-$4.00 on fuel costs alone per hour. I am also ignoring any maintenance or repair costs for operating the vehicle.

    I find it difficult to believe that you would personally know 12 or more taxi drivers who managed to drive ~280km a day, 5 days a week.

    • Paul Atreides on 10/09/2015 - 13:59
      +82

      you forgot to include the costs of international phone calls they make when theyre driving

      • [Deactivated] on 10/09/2015 - 16:29
        +2

        Hahahaha.

        Snap.

      • [Deactivated] on 10/09/2015 - 17:01
        +3

        you forgot to include the costs of international phone calls they make when theyre driving

        Vodafone unlimited international calls.

      • apey2000 on 11/09/2015 - 23:56
        +1

        Touche!

    • birdmaster on 11/09/2015 - 10:28
      -2

      Dude dont know the calculation personally once i catch the cab at day time because at station Train was delay 30 minutes and i had to reach CBD ASAP so i catch the cab it cost me $82 from Parramata Station to CBD Station. You can do the math and ride was for only 35 minutes.

    • mobius on 12/09/2015 - 08:09
      +1

      You forgot to think outside the box, a person can own more than one Taxi.

    • syme321 on 12/09/2015 - 21:54
      +1

      … and add to that, that most drivers are not owners and typically (used to) get 50% of the fare.

      I'm sure an owner may be a 'little' suss if they are getting less money than they would normally get.

    • xabiso on 13/09/2015 - 10:16

      they also rent the taxi out when they don't drive them themselves.

    • nayfon on 13/09/2015 - 13:10
      +3

      1L/10km of petrol usage

      I think you're overestimating the petrol usage.. Most taxis are LPG so they get much better mileage.

      I am also ignoring any maintenance or repair costs for operating the vehicle.

      You're not the only one ignoring maintenance or repair costs. The amount of unroadworthy taxis on the streets is scary.

  • Ash-Say on 10/09/2015 - 12:56
    -4

    Even if they earn $100k per year, the point was why they are making fuss if they do something illegally personally(not paying tax).

    • ChocDooder on 10/09/2015 - 13:05
      +17

      If what you're saying is true, there's quite a serious problem in the taxi industry. As a word of advice, when making a point, it's essential to make sure any verifiable facts are correct, or otherwise your argument will suffer and lose credibility.

      This is why it's important to double check your facts and avoid hyperbole so random people (like me :p) don't get in your grill and start questioning relatively 'trivial' information.

      • me786 on 10/09/2015 - 13:16

        Agreed ChocDooder.

        I think the Govt. is aware of the tax evasion. Specially a lot of small business (including Taxi) prefer cash for a reason. This is worldwide.

        However this Tax evasion is not invincible. i.e Every Taxi is equipped with GPS tracking. Also the job/fare from the Taxi System can be tracked easily. There are authorities and taxi regulatory boards who know better.

      • SlickMick on 11/09/2015 - 07:47
        +1

        come now… he's seen their overseas properties… a quick bit of deduction and you can clearly determine annual salary and tax paid /s

    • usman6062 on 12/09/2015 - 18:57

      You have no idea about taxi industry mate…Let me dare to say this …. you do not make it fuss about uber & taxi and relax.

  • akd on 10/09/2015 - 13:23
    +6

    The simple answer is that Taxi drivers/owners are loosing business because of Uber. So they are crying. It is similar to Gary crying for online tax.

    To second part of discussion, some but not all Taxi drivers make between 100k and 150 K per year, but they also work for 50-60 hrs per week. Per hour rate is very low even less than $15.
    They make good money because they do not pay complete tax (on contrary drivers have no super from owner).
    ATO is quite because 1) ATO do not have enough resources to track. 2)No of high earning drivers (>100K) are less and 3)People will stop driving if there is no money and taxi industry will suffer. Government does not want that.
    Taxi driving is also not a long term job (exceptions are there). Drivers drive for 4-5 years and then move on some other job.

      • akd on 10/09/2015 - 14:55
        +1

        Almost same.
        Should be Gerry

        • [Deactivated] on 10/09/2015 - 16:32

          @Cheap Charlie:

          Ahhh yes, good old Geriatric Gerry Harvey. When that chap goes to God he's probably going to take his money with him.

  • miss-t on 10/09/2015 - 13:29
    +6

    The drivers who do not own their own plates or cars pay a daily sum to rent the vehicle and the right to drive the car. They are doing it tough as the rent is so high. Instead of the drivers complaining about UberX and other potential ride sharing apps taking their market share, they should be complaining and protesting the small minority who own those plates and milk the lowly drivers dry.

    • [Deactivated] on 10/09/2015 - 16:41
      +1

      People will always find it easier to shit on the little man than confront the big one.

  • [Deactivated] on 10/09/2015 - 13:33
    +35

    Did telephone switchboard operators protest when digital came along?

    Should video rental stores protest because of netflix?

    Did lamplighters protest when electricity came along?

    Is anybody protesting the rollout of automated checkout machines at supermarkets and fast food chains?

    So many jobs were lost in the advance of technology.

    You can't deny progress. Maybe only resist it awhile if you have the power and money.

    • altomic on 10/09/2015 - 22:33
      +1

      Ned Ludd protested.

      • [Deactivated] on 11/09/2015 - 08:59

        +vote to you! I have always been hearing of the term luddite. So that is where the name came from.

        Anyway, to no fruition. Parliament made frame breaking a capital crime ( wiki sumary : Ned Ludd was a weaver to was protesting the implementation of mechanical knitting frames). Industrialisation came along, globalisation came along now all our clothes/textiles are made dirt cheap in China and Vietnam.

        People searching for profits will always go with the cheaper overheads, damn the social responsibility and all that.

        Capitalism and inequality really sucks/rocks depending on where you're looking from.

        • altomic on 11/09/2015 - 13:44

          Point to remember, he wasnt against technology just the loss of jobs to technology. A lot of people misuse the term "Luddite" = anti technology.

        • [Deactivated] on 11/09/2015 - 14:11

          @altomic: Yea, I was aware of the application of the term.

          To me, it is very similar. Technology is progress, and progress means things change. Nothing benefits everybody universally (that I can think of). Witch doctors lost their jobs to medication. I'm trying to come up with something, but not really. Maybe spectacles and shoes? You couldn't employ people to do those things. Maybe the super rich employed people to read things to him and carry him around. They might have lost their jobs to those inventions.

    • Scrooge McDuck on 11/09/2015 - 10:14
      +6

      The prices are exorbitant and the service is scummy; the entire industry is shambolic and should be left to die.

      Only the stakeholders (the people left holding the deflating taxi licenses) are crying out for governments to keep protecting them. Everyone else would be much better off without the taxi industry.

    • hahaboy on 11/09/2015 - 19:25
      +3

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pq-S557XQU

      Talks exactly about your point. Really interesting and well presented vid on automation of jobs.

      • [Deactivated] on 13/09/2015 - 04:15

        Even wanting to work hard is going to be useless soon. No idea what is going to happen, dwindling resources, increasing birthrate.

  • ozhunter on 10/09/2015 - 13:45
    +13

    Because uber aren't paying license fees. If they did, their rates wouldn't be as cheap.

    • nomoneynoproblems on 10/09/2015 - 14:21
      +3

      Ding ding top answer. Uber isn't regulated therefore illegal. How would you like it if you opened an ice cream shop, followed all the red tape got your licence and certificates, by the book. Then comes a guy and his trolley selling ice cream. He doesn't hasn't gone through all the red tape and therefore can under but your ice cream by a fair amount….this is why taxi drivers are going on strike.

      • SlickMick on 11/09/2015 - 07:55
        +7

        The question is, are taxi regulations good. Taxis say yes, uber drivers and users say no. I say the ability to sell licences and thus make them worth $350K is crazy.
        When gov decides it's time to allow a few more taxis so issue some more licenses who gets them? Does gov sell for $350K?

        I love the Uber is shaking things up. Not sure of any downside. Are roads jammed with uber drivers looking for work? I don't think so.

      • DarkOz on 11/09/2015 - 08:22
        +2

        To make it worse the guy parks his trolley directly outside of the ice cream shop selling to customers who were trying to get inside…

      • JimB on 11/09/2015 - 09:43
        +27

        The shop may be regulated, but it's old, dirty, smelly and can refuse you if you want a small order. When you pay via credit card, they have a 10% surcharge. People only buy from there because the Government limits the number of shops and only eat there because they have no choice and need to eat ice cream.

        Ice cream trolley is unregulated but clean, ice cream tastes better and is cheaper.

        I know which ice cream vendor I would prefer to buy from.

        • DarkOz on 11/09/2015 - 13:00
          +2

          When you say the trolley is 'unregulated' you know it should have been 'illegal'.

          Just because you hate that ice cream shop it doesn't mean you should go to that illegal ice cream trolley even when it is better. That ice cream trolley shouldn't be there in the first place.

        • Eivad on 11/09/2015 - 13:42
          +2

          True, which is why Uber is doing so well. But this doesn't change the fact that the unregulated ice cream vendor is breaking the law and will need to be regulated (at which point their costs will rise).

        • rompastompa on 11/09/2015 - 14:13
          +2

          @DarkOz:

          These analogies are making me want to order a taxi to get some icecream.

        • ChickenTalon on 11/09/2015 - 14:33
          +8

          @rompastompa: I'd prefer to order an Uber and get some icecream.

        • hayne on 11/09/2015 - 14:35
          +5

          @rompastompa: Fingers crossed the next Uber/Gelato Messina promotion comes around soon then

          http://www.gelatomessina.com/au/uber

        • pao2x on 11/09/2015 - 16:45
          +2

          @DarkOz: Why shouldn't I eat the better cheaper ice cream? It's not illegal to buy it or eat it. It might be unregulated but the ice cream man deals with that

        • JimB on 11/09/2015 - 16:56
          +8

          @DarkOz:

          "Just because you hate that ice cream shop it doesn't mean you should go to that illegal ice cream trolley even when it is better"

          I'm not keen on anyone forcing me or restricting supply where the consumer is the loser.

          Luckily as a consumer it's not illegal to buy the ice-cream, so fortunately I have the choice of ice cream.

          Free market at work.

          @Eivad:

          Yes, technically they are breaking the law, but in Victoria so is changing a light bulb unless you are a qualified electrician.

        • noshopping on 14/09/2015 - 07:54
          +3

          LOL. We are all hypocrites. If I apply the same theory to YOUR job, would you be okay with it?? Lets say if an overseas worker comes here and works for half your salary, but he works harder (70hrs+ a week, 6 days a week) plus doesn't take a single sick leave day off in a year.. In addition he only needs to undergo basic training and would not be subjected to OH&S rules, pay no GST because he/she is foreign? WOULD you be cool with that? We love cheaper stuff and more competition but WHEN IT affects US, we act exactly like these disgruntled taxi drivers.

          Overseas worker is unregulated but clean, works harder, accepts lower salary, is cheaper. Isn't it suppose to be a free market at work? Nope.. Just an illusion.

          We love to side with Uber, because we want cheaper fares. We blame the taxi industry for over charging us. But when the government wants to introduce cheaper overseas visa workers and increase competition into the industry/workforce, we start bitching and moaning about how our salaries will suffer, how they will take our jobs, how they don't go through sufficient training, etc.

          One thing I do agree with most is that the taxi industry needs change. These plate licenses are a scam. Anybody should be able to be a taxi driver if they pay their fair share of tax and there should be no transaction fees for credit cards.

        • JimB on 14/09/2015 - 10:35

          @downdown:

          Yes, I wouldn't be happy. However, complaints about the current taxi service in Australia isn't all about the costs.

          Yes Uber is slightly cheaper, but 90% of the reason why people prefer Uber is about the service offered.

          If it was MY job, I would have listened to the customers years ago and improved my service. In the past if I didn't, it wasn't a big deal, the customers would have no choice anyway.

          Now customers have the choice and are voting with their feet.

          Yet, the taxi industry hasn't woken up and attempted to improve their service. If it was any other business, they would go bankrupt.

        • [Deactivated] on 16/09/2015 - 10:30

          @downdown: I'd be fine with that if the overseas worker was actually better than me at my job and be willing to work that hard for half pay. I would say I kinda deserved it for being that shitty that somebody HALF my rate can do the same thing. I would also be wondering what kind of person who is that skilled (70hrs 6 days a week at the producing the same level of work per hour that it confers a cumulative benefit over my weekly output) and that desperate. Given the circumstance, I can't see how I should keep that job in good conscience because there certainly isn't any merit to me keeping it (of course all legalities have to be adhered to).

        • [Deactivated] on 16/09/2015 - 12:24

          @lolbbq: Edit: I am faily confident you couldn't find somebody who could "comes here and works for half your salary, but he works harder (70hrs+ a week, 6 days a week) plus doesn't take a single sick leave day off in a year.. In addition he only needs to undergo basic training and would not be subjected to OH&S rules" and be able to produce the same kind of work per unit time. It MAY however be possible to outsource my job overseas but the savings would not be very much and work quality could possibly suffer as it is very much dependent on the infrastructure we have here in Australia.

        • SlickMick on 23/09/2015 - 09:07

          @downdown:
          That is how it is for many of us: programming, phone support, manufacturing. That's how free trade is supposed to work. Whoever provides best value for money gets the job. I'm okay with that. The cheap development is done in India, the quality work is done by people like me.

      • mobius on 12/09/2015 - 08:20
        +5

        Ridiculous - if uber were illegal it would be shut down tomorrow.

        Using your ice cream analogy it's more like.
        Here's some crappy ice cream that will run down your hand and it will cost you $16.
        Shop smells and is dirty.
        Pay cash or it's a %6 surcharge.
        Doesn't have change so it will cost you $20
        Oh btw you got the wrong flavour.

        I've been catching Taxi's for years, they are horrible everywhere in the world, but Sydney is particularly bad.

        I f**king love uber, far as I'm concerned it's no ones business what when two consenting adults come to an agreement.

        Taxi industry is crying because they can't keep their shoddy operations running.

        Solution is the state government has to drastically drop the price of the plates.

  • KaTst3R on 10/09/2015 - 14:17
    +9

    Taxi driver complaints that Uber is taking all their business.

    So why dont he/she be an Uber driver instead.

    Taxi driver refuse.

    You ask why.

    Because he/she makes $150k right now and wouldn't make as much with Uber.

    {Shake Head & Face Palm}

  • parismeow on 10/09/2015 - 15:22
    +4

    Before uber, the only real competition that taxis had were public transport. Now that uber is around, taxis are mad that they now have competition to look out for. i believe that uber saw a gap in the market and went for it. it isnt their fault that taxis got comfortable in stability allowing for increasing prices. lifes not fair, there will always be competition.

  • cktftw on 10/09/2015 - 15:26
    +3

    Which is why I'd rather pay a little more for Uber Black (cheaper here in SA compared to other states because our ancient labor government still wont allow Uber X) than get into these filthy cabs

  • goosegog on 10/09/2015 - 16:58
    +2

    This is called business competition. Why " Boo-Hoo" when a competitor has come along with the fore thought of a good business strategy that fills a niche in the market place that not only pulls in business, gives a better priced service for customers but also provides a more reliable service? Beforehand most Taxis' were well passed their use buy date in ways of comfort,driver care & knowledge, customer satisfaction & often would not pass a road safety test. Many drivers leave a lot to be desired in the way of hygiene, personality & even the common courtesy to the customer.
    Good on Uber - always remember the old adage - The more you reap the more you sow - . In other words, to keep putting up prices to gain revenue, does not achieve an end result. Look outside the square, fix the problem & gain more revenue through more business, even though it might mean less in the short term but more quantity & business in the long term.

  • Davo1111 on 10/09/2015 - 17:55

    Is this fuss all about the competition where Uber is taking away business from the taxi drivers?

    errr obviously, yes.

    isn’t tax evasion and not declaring the correct income also illegal?

    errr obviously yes.

    hypocrisy, google it ;)

  • altomic on 10/09/2015 - 18:05
    +2

    do taxis still have the 10% CC surcharge which encourages people to pay cash which is not traceable?

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