The city council vote approving by-law changes has paved the way for a Uber relaunch in Calgary, reports CBC News. The changes make the city’s licensing fee structure more favourable for the ridesharing company.
Uber, of course, was pleased with the changes and said it will relaunch in Calgary in early December:
“As we’ve said, these changes will allow us to offer service to riders and drivers by early December and we’ll be sharing our exact launch date with Calgarians soon,” Jean-Christophe de Le Rue said in an email to CBC News.
In order to stop Uber drivers from violating existing laws, the city obtained an injunction in November 2015 forcing Uber to leave Calgary until the necessary legal background was created.
In February the city approved a new rule that allowed so-called transportation network companies (TNCs) to operate in the city if they pay an annual fee of $1,753 and a per-driver fee of $220. Drivers were required to have appropriate insurance and police background checks.
Uber couldn’t comply with the terms because a large portion of the drivers only work part time, so that would be a financial burden they couldn’t support.
The new fee structure the city council approved this Monday, however, allows TNCs to choose between the old fee structure and the new, which charges an annual TNC fee of $5,000 to $20,000 (depending on company size), a $15 per-driver fee and a 20 cent per-trip fee.
The new free structure will run for a year only as a pilot project, and the city council will review the changes in 2017.
