NSW Premier dismisses news report claiming legalisation of Uber taxi service in December

NSW Premier Mike Baird has dismissed reports that Uber will be legalised in the state by the end of 2015. His comment comes after a news agency “revealed” that Transport Minister Andrew Constance would make an announceent about the “reforms” soon.

Baird said authorities were considering an independent report as a part of the due process to assess the future of taxi services in the state. However, he said his government did not yet go beyond considering the report.

The Daily Telegraph earlier reported the Baird government was going to legalise the controversial taxi service. It cited anonymous government sources which believed legalising Uber was “inevitable”.

The Telegraph's report also claimed to reveal that existing taxi owners would be compensated for “losing exclusive control of the market” as Uber drivers would have to pay a licence fee for the first time. According to Baird, the news report "jumped the gun" by claiming that the state government would legalise Uber in December.

"If there are big changes and those changes have a negative impact on our members - people who have done the right thing over many years and invested in taxi plates – there should be some form of adjustment," The ABC quoted Baird as saying, referring to the fact that taxi drivers paid more than $300,000 to own taxi plates.

"What you need to understand is the taxi industry is effectively 6,000 small businesses, they have bought into this industry on the basis of significant upfront investment."

Brad Kitschke, Uber’s head of policy, does not believe his company can interfere in the exclusivity of regular taxi services.

"It recognises that rank-and-hail work is the exclusive purview of the taxi industry, and what that means is there'll always be a viable taxi industry," Kitschke said, adding that 70 percent of all taxi users still used regular taxi services.