Uber Wants City of Edmonton to Back Down on Proposed Drivers Fee

Uber wants the city of Edmonton to back down on a proposed $920 per-driver fee and replace it with a smaller per-ride fee, which would be affectively passed down to customers.

The ride sharing company says the fee, which will be paid every two years, will force Uber out of the city. Officials are hoping that a revamped bylaw would allow the company to charge an extra 50 cents per ride to compensate for the driver fee. General manager for Uber in Alberta Ramit Kar said:

“I’m actually very optimistic. We’re in a good place.”

The city has not yet confirmed if the proposal is actually being considered. The written documents for the proposal are expected to be released on January 21, days before the January 26 council meeting.

Kar said approximately 90,000 people in Edmonton and the surrounding areas have download the app in the past year, with 12,000 of those people coming only this past month. The general manager also says that Uber has been proven to be very popular in Edmonton, with one in six Canadian Uber rides happening there.

Kar is also hoping that Edmonton is the first Canadian city to pass new regulations that govern ride-sharing services like Uber.

“We’re hoping Edmonton can be that first domino.”

However, even if these regulations pass Uber would still have to satisfy insurance requirements to operate legally in any Canadian city.

[via Edmonton Journal]