Uber warns of higher prices and longer wait times following Toronto’s decision to freeze new licences issued by the province
Uber is warning riders in Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal that prices could go up by another 10 per cent on the day after Ontario’s government announced a series of measures to limit Uber’s operations in the province.
The company, which had to shut down all service in the Toronto region after the city’s regulators issued new licence after new licence to Uber, said it will continue to monitor prices and is “concerned about the impact that this may have on the ridership”.
“We’re concerned with the potential impact it could have not just in Toronto, but in other cities, like Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto,” the company wrote in a statement.
“We’re working to address this as we move forward.”
Uber has called on the government to “immediately suspend” new licences issued to the company, which have been issued in every municipality in Ontario, except in the rural hamlets of the Haliburton Highlands in northern Ontario.
The measures announced on Tuesday, the day after a report by the auditor general called Uber into question its financial stability, were taken at least in part to limit the company’s ability to expand in the province. Uber is now the only ride-hailing company operating in the province.
A spokesman for the Minister of Transportation later confirmed “the Department will be looking to suspend all new licences in the Greater Toronto Area”.
Under the provincial government’s proposals, Uber drivers would have to pass a new course to demonstrate safe driving qualifications in order to work in the province.
Uber also said its drivers in Toronto and Montreal will face longer wait times in order to get their permits.
The company has warned passengers throughout Monday of a 10 per cent increase in the price of a ride in Toronto, with a 15 per cent increase in prices across the province.
On Tuesday, an Uber spokesperson said the taxi company would be reviewing new licence applications “and will adjust fares and wait times accordingly if necessary”.
