Finally some good news for Uber: it will resume its ride-hailing service in Taiwan today, two months after suspending operations following a long-running battle with the country’s government. To avoid running afoul of local regulations again, Uber will partner with licensed rental car companies.
After launching in Taiwan in 2013, Uber quickly faced backlash from local cab operators and the government, which levied fines against the company and its drivers for running unlicensed transportation services.
In December, Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan finalized an amendment bill that hiked the maximum financial penalty for illegal passenger transportation services from NT$150,000 (about $4,946) to NT$25 million ($824,500)—the highest such fine in the world.
This prompted Uber to finally suspend its services in Taiwan on February 10.
A blog post announcing the return of Uber in Taiwan said that the company is “now partnering with licensed rental car companies to resume serving riders in Taipei.” The service will return to other cities soon.
In the post, Uber Taiwan general manager Likai Gu said “We want to partner with more legal transportation service partners in weeks and months to come, whether they be from rental car companies or the taxi industry.”
During the suspension of its ride-hailing service, Uber continued to operate Uber Eats, its food delivery service, in Taipei.
