In May last year, the ride-sharing app Uber changed Ottawa's taxi industry. After only eight months of operation, many traditional cab drivers already felt the negative effects of the app on their income. According to Ottawa Citizen, the law makers were being urged to take sides. For the taxi drivers, Uber means unfair competition while for Uber supporters it is an innovation.
The "sharing" industry popularized by social apps and sites such as Uber and AirBnB continues to win more and more customers. Uber is not only affecting taxi drivers in Canada, but also in other parts of the world like Sydney. According to Domain, Airbnb and other online letting agencies are already raising concerns among those who are not agreeable with the idea of a "shared economy."
Moreover, apartment block residents feel like the same thing is about to happen to them. They are in fear that they would also be sold down just like the taxi drivers as the New South Wales government expresses support for sharing economy and sharing services. In a new publication released by Innovation and Better Regulation, Minister Victor Dominello announced the enthusiasm of the NSW Government over the "positive impact of the collaborative economy for consumer choice, employment and productivity."
Many apartment residents feared that their homes would soon be transformed into "virtual hotels." One strata resident, according to Domain, expressed his dislike for the shared economy saying, "This stinks. We are going to be sold down the river, just like the taxi drivers were with Uber-X."
UberX is a new private car service provided by the same company that runs Uber. It provides travelers the ability to collaborate with private car owners who can get them from point A to point B by using the app on their smartphones.
As for residential services being turned in to short-term let spaces by online letting agencies, Karen Stiles, executive officer of the Owners Corporation Network (OCN), the strata owners' lobby group weighs in, saying, "It's a bit alarming that the considerable known problems of owners and tenants illegally letting their apartments wasn't even mentioned. Short-term lets are turning some residential buildings into virtual hotels, only without the safeguards, security and services that hotels have to provide by law."
