QUEBEC — Uber drivers who have registered with the company before Aug. 17 will have a three-month grace period to comply with the rules set out in the new pilot project with Quebec.
The Couillard government on Friday released the final version of the deal it struck this week with the U.S.-based ride-sharing company.
The one-year deal will see Uber acquiring the equivalent of 300 taxi permits, which gives the company 50,000 operating hours a week.
In addition to collecting and paying taxes, Uber will have to pay a 90-cent fee per ride to the government if its drivers collectively work 50,000 hours a week or less; $1.10 per ride between 50,000 and 100,000 hours, and $1.26 for more than 100,000 hours.
Uber will also pay a $0.07 fee per ride, which, the agreement says, is a way to respect the fact that traditional taxi drivers have high insurance costs.
The fees paid by Uber will go into a fund to help modernize the traditional taxi industry, the deal says.
New Uber drivers who registered after Aug. 17 must immediately comply with the rules set out in the pilot project. They must hold a Class 4C driver’s licence and insurance, undergo a criminal background check, have their car inspected and identified with a windshield sticker, and undergo customer service training.
The government is allowing Uber to offer its own training. Drivers will be expected to understand their rights and obligations under the law, offer quality service, transport people with limitations, know how to use their mobile applications and even be able to undertake basic mechanical inspections.
The base tariff for clients hopping in a cab or Uber car has been set at $3.45.
As for “surge pricing,” Uber may continue to charge more at times of high demand, the deal says, but the company has agreed to limit the hike to a maximum factor of 1.5 times the usual rate when an event cannot be reasonably anticipated or controlled, such as during a natural catastrophe.
The deal allows Uber drivers to operate anywhere in Quebec, but bars them from traditional taxi stands and reserved lanes, and from taking on street hails and government contracts.
Street hails account for about 60 per cent of cab rides in Montreal.
Uber must submit monthly reports and documents to the government to show it is respecting the agreement.
If it fails to comply with any of the terms, the government will force the multinational “to cease all operations, without any other advance notice.”
Uber issued a statement Friday saying it is studying these “complex and restrictive parameters.”
