Page 3809 - Week 12 - Thursday, 29 October 2015
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its associated participants and trade equipment, which includes booking services, drivers, vehicle owners, and the vehicles themselves. Further, the bill will support public safety through defining appropriate licensing, accreditation and insurance requirements for on-demand transport providers.
The proposed bill recognises that new and existing businesses will operate in the territory. To address risk, the regulatory framework puts in place a framework for vehicle and driver licensing, and operational requirements that are largely similar, with some intended differences, based on the nature and operation of services provided.
The proposed bill will introduce the concept of the transport booking service, TBS, to apply across all on-demand transport business types. Broadly, the bill provides for a regulated approach to ride sharing that is comparable in terms of intended outcomes for community safety and accessibility.
The bill will not amend all requirements in the act, and this is in order to allow for government action in the transition period. More specifically, it will allow for refining and reducing regulatory burdens, and this will be achieved chiefly through subordinate legislation and other instruments.
The community clearly wants taxis and hire car services to continue to play a role in on-demand transport. The government intends that these services remain available and form the basis of a differentiated service and competition for the industry.
The bill addresses that community objective by several means. For the entire taxi industry, the bill removes unnecessary regulatory burdens on taxi services such as prescriptive requirements on operational matters. It also removes restrictions on operators’ and drivers’ ability to access work through multiple booking services. And it supports driver viability outcomes, particularly through more accessible workers compensation and dispute resolution mechanisms.
Today, annual taxi plate leasing from the government costs $20,000 per annum per vehicle. An initial reduction of this fee will occur during the first stages of reforms, from $20,000 to $10,000. Additional fee reduction will occur for taxi operators towards the end of 2016, when taxi vehicle licence fees will decline even further, from $10,000 to $5,000 annually.
This bill helps us protect consumer pricing outcomes. We are therefore allowing for the regulation of prices, and this extends to ride sharing and hire car services. This recognises that new kinds of transport services may introduce pricing practices that may not align fully with government intentions or consumer outcomes and equity. It gives the government tools—only if required, I stress—to stop or place limitations on any future undesirable pricing practices. The bill also allows for a regulated reduction in the surcharge on electronic payments made in on-demand transportation vehicles, from 10 to 11 per cent back down to five per cent.
Let me take this opportunity to speak more about safety. This bill clearly recognises that while there can be many kinds of on-demand transport businesses operating in the
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