Now Uber fully returns to Oslo – E24

The transport service Uber announces a full return to the Norwegian market.

Starting Monday, customers in Oslo will be able to order normal cars in the Uber app. Today, only Uber’s luxury service is available in Norway.

In addition to the main service Uber X, Uber Green, a separate service for all-electric cars, is launched.

The relaunch comes as a result of the change in the competition rules in the taxi market on July 1 of this year.

Now county municipalities can no longer set an upper limit for the number of taxi licenses that can be in the county. Also, taxis no longer need to be connected to a central office.

The changes make it easier to obtain a taxi license in Norway.

“There is room for innovation in the Norwegian taxi market. We believe that we can make passenger transport in Norway more efficient and sustainable, reduce congestion and offer new opportunities to professional drivers,” the company writes in a statement from press.

Uber closed its main business in Norway in October 2017. At the same time, the company accepted a fine of NOK 5 million for violating the Commercial Transport Law.

The taxi industry has reacted vigorously before the government has released new foreign players, while the industry itself says it is in crisis.

Hanne Skåle Thowsen is Director of the Taxi Association. She tells Aftenposten / E24 that they hope the Norwegian taxi industry will be affected by the return of Uber.

– We are ready to compete as long as we have the same conditions of competition and as long as Uber fulfills them, says Thowsen.

She hopes Uber will follow Norwegian rules and regulations.

– We have experience in the past that they do not stay within the framework of the legislation, so this is what we are most critical of. Its operation is completely different from the Norwegian taxi industry, says Thowsen.