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Over 30 Uber Cars Impounded In Cape Town
An anonymous reader writes Uber's in trouble again: 34 drivers in Cape Town, South Africa have had their cars impounded after being caught driving without a metered taxi permit. Uber says that the process of getting permits is subject to delays and drivers have been left in limbo due to a moratorium on new licenses last year. Cape Town says that it's been clear all along about what Uber drivers need to operate in the city and it's making no exceptions. Uber first arrived in Cape Town in 2013.
would Uber supporters say "thats ok - regulations are stupid!"
Depends on the scenario. There are lots of very valid laws and regulations in place all over the world for very valid reasons. People have likened this to licences for plumbers, and electricians but there's one very key difference with taxis, we are already licences to do what taxis do.
I support Uber providing they ensure that all their drivers have a valid drivers license. The drivers license means they have met the requirements to drive on the road. In pretty much the entire world cars have more than one seat so that license permits you to carry passengers.
So why all of a sudden if someone offers you restitution for that service does it suddenly become illegal? I could meet up with you at the bar and you may miss your last bus. Maybe you ask me if I can drive you home on the way and you'll shout me a beer for it. Is that now illegal? Why is that more illegal than a taxi operating without a license? What additional protection do you get from the license if I have already proven that I am capable of driving on the road and I'm allowed to carry passengers?
Some regulations truly ARE stupid. But that is an exception, not the norm.
1. That's what socialists say socialism is, but that's not what it really is. It's still control of the means of production by others, except they claim to answer to the workers but don't, since what's said in certain, 200+yo legal paperwork is ignored whenever it's inconvenient. What happens in the USA is the worst of both worlds: we have government meddling AND corporate greed, passing the puck back and forth at the top of the pyramid. Each sells access to what the other legally cannot. The currency can be the dollar, or favor, or exclusivity. The wealthy cannot rule over the proles without a big state to impose on their liberty and finances. What better way to do that than slowly increasing tax, inflation, and artificial barriers to opportunity?
2. The US government is full of hypocrites and there is no shortage in other nations either. Most libertarians would agree with you here.
3. Soviet communism is what trainwrecked most of eastern europe and several asian countries whose preexisting regimes favored heavy handed states anyway. Then there's the self-loathing cultures it created in places like sweden. I hardly call any of this a success.
4. I have no hard on for any particular company. An even playing field means the state isn't picking winners and losers or forming exclusive clubs that have to be bought into, either outright with cash, or with political lobbying. As long as vehicles meet safety regs (which is required of every vehicle anyway), what's wrong with some competition? You are arguing circular reasoning. The law is what needs to change here. Loosening the regs on private taxis would force the ones currently protected to have to compete. There's nothing wrong with that but that's why their lobbyists bitch.