My experience in Spain is that the taximen there are not really affected by the hailing of rides stimulated by the digital economy. Nobody calls in or rather uses the Uber App to pimp their rides. The taxis still function as before, and they never lost their sleep over it. Just why is this possible?Sure, the taximen invested a lot of money in their machines and their licences. For the Uber drivers, it is just another way to make extra revenue. Being the socialist, people-minded that the elected government is, it naturally cared more for the people that elected them rather than the business people who financed their campaign. Furthermore, at a time when everyone has become nationalistic if not, practising 'identity politics', it does not help that the parent company is foreign-owned.
Whatever way the debates go, the bottom line is providing a service. Mobility and agility is an essential tool for an economy to prosper. The service providers cannot hold the end-users to ransom. Above all, they should provide a reasonable and workable facility.
This could be a wake-up call to our local cabbies, who, when given the carte blanche of solely providing the private chauffering amenity, were too haughty, lazy and lackadaisical at best. Above all, the taxi drivers are providing a vital service to spur the economy and even to promote the country to that occasional tourist like my experience in Spain. Still, no one is indispensable.
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Backfired! Public perception of taxi drivers at the lowest ebb
after being rude to the 93-year old re-elected PM, during a
public discourse.
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