We posted about taxi booking app Ingogo a couple of weeks back, regarding how popular it had become with customers and cab drivers alike. Less enamoured were the NSW Taxi Council and Taxis Combined, which from all accounts are keen to see the app banned in some fashion. A draft policy from Transport of NSW could grant them their wish… if indirectly.
ZDNet reports the policy would see drivers of public passenger vehicles banned from using all “electronic devices” while on the go, lest they cop a fine or worse, lose their licence. Hands-free / ear pieces are apparently no good either, while standard taxi gear is excluded.
While the policy doesn’t flat out ban apps like Ingogo, it would make it more difficult to use as the driver, by law, would not be allowed to interact with the Ingogo device while moving. The policy stipulates the driver would have to pull over and apply their vehicle’s handbrake before doing anything.
Going by your comments last time we broached the subject, Ingogo (and GoCatch) was a clear winner with the cab-hailing masses. It sounds to me like the cab conglomerates would be better off working with the companies behind the apps, rather than trying to shut them down in roundabout ways.
[ZDNet]