Ridesharing in Victoria: The Story so Far

Thursday 24 November 2016 @ 11.58 a.m. | Industrial Law | Taxation | Trade & Commerce

Following on earlier attempts to introduce legislation to regulate ridesharing in Victoria (see the Regulation of Ridesharing Bill 2016 and our earlier article) the Victorian Government on 24 May 2016 tasked the Economy and Infrastructure Committee (the Committee) to inquire into the matter and report back on 8 December 2016, whose date has now been extended to 16 March 2017. In anticipation of that report a brief recap of the state of play to date would be as follows.

The Committees and its Terms of Reference

The Committee's Terms were self-referenced by the Committee on 24 May 2016 and require it to inquire into, consider and report, (now no later than 16 March 2017), on the need for, and appropriate structure of, the regulation of ride sourcing services such as Uber, with particular regard to:

  •  Barriers to entry;
  •  Consumer protection;
  •  Customer safety;
  •  Competition;
  •  Access for people with disabilities;
  •  Remuneration and workplace rights for drivers;
  •  How impacts of such regulation on the taxi industry can be minimised;
  •  Industry transition; and
  •  Any other issues regarded as relevant.

 Note: On 24 October 2016, the Committee ". . . resolved to extend the reporting date for this inquiry to 16 March 2017". This no doubt in part brought about by the more than 230 submissions received in the submission period of June to August 2016 (now closed). The Committee is now conducting hearings, and hearings transcripts for September to October 2016 can be accessed here.

Attempts at Legislation by Non-Government Parties

Since May 2016, there has been a further attempt to pass legislation on the subject led by the Greens Samantha Dunn in the form of the Ridesharing Bill 2016 (see our earlier article "New Ridesharing Bill 2016 for Victoria"). 

Essentially, that Private Members Bill was introduced on 7 June 2016, into the Victorian Legislative Council, with the aim of imposing duties on facilitators of ridesharing and amending the Transport (Compliance and Miscellaneous) Act 1983 (VIC) to exempt ridesharing from the provisions of that act relating to commercial passenger vehicles and to amend the Transport Integration Act 2010 (VIC) to recognise the undertaking of rideshare journeys as a transport service and for other purposes. At the time of writing, that Bill remains anchored at second reading stage (which was reached on 6 August 2016) in the Legislative Council.

The Government Announces its Legislation Plans

In late August 2016, the ABC reported that, the Victorian Government had announced plans to legalise ridesharing services in Victoria, including Uber - a plan which would also see taxi and ride-booking services hit with a $2 per trip levy which would last for eight years and provide money to be used to fund the proposed changes to the industry.

It was reported that the Victorian Government planned to establish a single registration system for taxis, hire cars and ride-share services with the Premier, Mr Andrews, quoted as saying the Government would do away with taxi licences and provide $378 million to help existing licence holders transition to the new system and laws. Further, the Premier is reported as indicating the establishment of a  $75 million "fairness fund" to provide assistance for those who experienced immediate financial hardship - $25 million being targeted to improve access for people with a disabilities.

Reaction to the proposal from Uber was reported as non-committal, The Uber Victoria general manager being reported as saying that: 

"We would urge and ask the Government ... to provide a full justification and economic modelling for any proposed levy. ... Again, I'd reiterate that anything that makes transport more expensive is a bad thing for consumers."

The Victorian Taxi Association is reported as saying that:

". . . it supported the broad framework of the changes, but needed to understand the detail of the policy."

As part of the Committee's inquiries in Bendigo, where Uber is not a significant provider, the head of a taxi co-operative in Bendigo expressed strong views about plans for ridesharing deregulation and was quoted as saying, that:

"The $2 trip surcharge is just a joke; no-one is going to accept that, . . "

Likelihood of Legislation Soon

It does not seem that Victoria's Government will progress this matter much further before the end of 2016.  The Committee's report will be a key determinant of the final legislation and what the Government finally implements.

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