Fees: Uber has now paid $ 7.4 million to Quebec

Photo Agence QMI, Christopher Nardi

Pascal Dugas Drone

Tuesday, 22 August, 2017 05:00

UPDATE
Tuesday, 22 August, 2017 05:00

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Uber has paid in royalties $ 7.4 million to the government of Quebec since the beginning in October last year of the pilot project, enabling it to offer its services according to certain rules.

The amount of royalties that was obtained by QMI Agency through the Law on access to information.

The last cheque signed by Uber, dated August 4, for the previous three months, was $ 2.4 million, or slightly more than in previous quarters.

The taxi industry is still concerned about the impact of Uber on its business, but it is not surprise by the space that the multinational company occupies on the market.

“What we had calculated, that is 20% to 25% of races at least to the taxi drivers,” said Guy Chevrette, a spokesman for the Committee for consultation and development of the taxi industry.

“If there are 1000 [drivers Uber] who work at the same time, it does not surprise me”, he added.

“Extra-exorbitant”

As the amount given back to Quebec under the pilot project ranges between $ 0.97 a and $ 1.33 per race, we can estimate that the number of trips completed monthly by the driver of Uber varies between 580 000 and 800 000.

For Mr. Doe, it is “a number of races extra-exorbitant” that have real impacts on the livelihood of taxi drivers.

“We realize it on the field, because instead of doing 9 to 10 hours per day to earn a living, drivers must be 12 or 13 hours,” he said.

The office of the Transport minister, Laurent Lessard, said that it did not target on the royalties paid by Uber and follow the evolution of the pilot project.

This last is set to expire on 14 October 2017.

The draft law on Uber, which would give birth to the pilot project, had been adopted in the controversy in June 2016, following a gag imposed by the government.

The taxi industry maintains that the situation Uber is not fair, since its drivers are not in need of taxi permits to work.

Uber

Fees paid by Quebec for October 2016: $7.4 million

Draft law on Uber adopted under a gag order in June 2016

Pilot project on the fees in effect until October 2017