Transport Minister Katz doubles down on anti-Uber policy

Uber currently competes with Gett, another app-based cab service, and a new competitor called Rider.

By NIV ELIS
Updated: JANUARY 26, 2016 02:32
Uber (photo credit: REUTERS)
Uber
(photo credit: REUTERS)
A day after clashing with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over regulating taxi alternative Uber, Transport Minister Israel Katz on Monday doubled down on his opposition to the ride-sharing service.
“If the state wants to put it in place, it should decide and prepare to pull NIS 8 billion- NIS 9b. from its pockets to compensate the cab drivers,” Katz told the Knesset Economic Affairs Committee.
It was unfair, he said, to allow people driving private cars to compete with cab drivers who shelled out money and spent time getting special licenses.
He denied that cab unions had an influence on his decision.
On Sunday, Katz accused Netanyahu of being beholden to wealthy tycoons when the prime minister suggested that Uber be able to operate in Israel.
Netanyahu had met Uber’s CEO at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week.
Uber, in fact, has been operating in Israel for two years, but only as an app-centric cab service. The more controversial ride-sharing UberX service, which has been banned in places such as Germany, is currently illegal under Israeli regulation.
Uber currently competes with Gett, another app-based cab service, and a new competitor called Rider.


Related Tags
uber