Uber, the newly-tech company valued US$ 17 billion has started operations in Vietnam.
Since inception in the US in Jun 2010, Uber has been in 38 countries and now entering Vietnam market. For this application to work, the user needs to use mobile applications to register Uber journey. Uber system will automatically connect the user to the vehicle owner. Not only notice the cost of the trip, Uber also increased safety for passengers by providing basic information about the car going to pick up passenger.
For vehicle owners, Uber allows them to increase revenue through additional transport guests without restrictive time working as a taxi driver. Not only that, the percentage of revenue sharing between Uber and vehicle owners is also attractive than a taxi because it did not have to invest in a car or communication system. Uber car owners enjoy the 80%, the company obtained 20% of the cost of each trip.
In Vietnam, Uber only works in Ho Chi Minh City. Charges and expenses of Uber are cheaper than taxis, at only VND 10,000 / km and VND 5,000 per opening. For comparison purposes, Vinasun prescribed fee is at VND 16,500/ km and VND 11,000 per opening.
This is not the first time a foreign technology company appear and create a game changer for the taxi industry. Before Uber, the emergence of applications on mobile as EasyTaxi (by Rocket Internet Investment) or GrabTaxi (Malaysia) did make people pay more attention to the business of transportation.
In essence, Uber model is private car transport contract without licensing and proper badge. It raises the question of legal compliance of this business model according to Ho Chi Minh City Taxi Association.