A car carrying passengers who use Uber taxi-hailing app in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Dinh Muoi
Ho Chi Minh City's transport department has ordered Uber Vietnam to obtain a proper business license after six months of illegally operating its taxi-hailing service in the country.
The agency's deputy director Le Hoang Minh said Uber has been registered as a market research and consultancy firm in Vietnam.
“However, inspectors found that Uber has been operating transport services,” he said.
A representative of Uber reportedly insisted that it is a technology company. The company only signs contracts with transport firms and is not a transport service provider itself, he said.
But at a meeting on Thursday, Minh rejected this argument, saying Uber has a mobile app in use in Vietnam and therefore it has to have its cap-hailing service registered.
According to the HCMC Tax Department, Uber Vietnam has not paid taxes so far. The agency ordered the company to send a list of local transport firms in Vietnam that it has signed contracts with for further inspection.
The tax department said Uber Netherlands signed contracts with many transport companies and individuals in HCMC to carry passengers via its Uber app.
