Uber's Failure in Japan
disruptingjapan.com
disruptingjapan.com
Five-six years ago, when I asked for a receipt for an expense report, I got a hand-scribbled note. Running credit cards often required hand-based crank mechanisms. Autoplaying TV on the back of a seat that was billed unless you explicitly opted out. It was, in short, a scammy operation designed to squeeze you in all the impolite ways, and there was nothing you could do about it. When Uber/Lyft came on the scene, it took the scam out of the taxi industry and transformed the situation into one where you had a clear understanding of the price, where you could get a clear and reasonable receipt (emailed, even!), where you could pay with a card. You get a clear idea of how long the operator will take to arrive.
I had to use a taxi in St Louis, MO last summer. In order to do this I had to call the taxi company. No app, no website, nothing. It took 45 minutes to show up, period. The driver couldn't find me when he got near. I am very glad I did not miss my flight. It reminded me again of how deeply I support the "ride-sharing" services.
I consider the taxicab operations to be corrupt and effectively incompetent, frequently propped up by asinine medallion systems and graft at the city level. Therefore, I refuse to use taxis if Lyft or Uber are available. I will NOT intentionally contribute one red cent to these jokers.
Now, all of what the author said about Uber's flouting of the law is true. And that's not something I'm terribly happy about. But I think there's a certain value in simply ignoring bad law and fixing it on the fly. Might be the American in me, but so it goes.
In any case: if the taxi industry in Japan is honest, competent and well executed, Uber/Lyft will not have the profound advantage it has over the taxi industry in the US.
I've used Taxis in Japan across the country for 20+ years, can attest to its quality, reliability, and professionalism. It's on the expensive side, with rides usually starting at 700 yen (roughly 7USD) [1], but the drivers are courteous professionals who drive smoothly and know their cities and routes cold (if they don't, they'll apologize for not knowing and ask you for directions).
The only downside is that sometimes the drivers are cigarette smokers. While they won't smoke inside the car, the odor can be very noticeable.
[1] I believe this will be reduced to 500 yen soon.
Taxis are rubbish in Australia, but you also aren't expected to tip.
He said the only exception to this is Japan. He says they have, hands down, the best service in the world. Whether you're in a family owned shop out in a rural area or some upscale joint in Roppongi, the people there actually care if you've enjoyed your food (and will nearly be offended if you try and tip them).
Thought his opinion was a bit odd, but I think it might be valid considering his experience and the fact that he's not a naive, anti-establishment 20-something. He's fairly pragmatic and a realist.
Maybe if you're used to that, someone just giving you what you want without incident feels lacking?
Just price the goods correctly so that I know when I start the transaction what I am going to pay, then I'm more likely to return to your establishment to enjoy the food and service.
Japan, or at least the populated parts generally have tons of taxis so they are easy to find. They are polite and very clean, one thing western cabs are not. If they do something wrong (go the wrong way, end up taking the wrong road) more often than not they'll refund a portion of the fare without asking. I've had this happen a few times a year over the last 20 years.
Singapore is similar. Tons of cabs. In fact in Singapore you could book cabs in an app / online since like 2009. You get told the number of your cab so when lots of cabs are driving up you know yours is #27B-6. I had similarly nice experiences. I tried to tip a driver $3 for a $7 fare just so I could give him a $10 and he was like "too much lah!" and gave me $2 back.
I don't know how Uber is doing in Singapore but my understanding is not well. It's higher priced than local cabs for one.
My point being I agree with you. It's totally the taxis fault for providing sub-par service. In places where that's not the case Uber is having difficulty.
I suppose there's also the issue of car ownership though. For Uber to work you need people who own cars and are willing to drive them. Places like Tokyo and Singapore where most people don't own cars would probably make it harder to find drivers. I guess NYC has people from outside to drive in?
I wonder how Uber drivers get away stoping everywhere they feel like. It is somewhat of a traffic disruption.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/uber-driver-ja...
But punching an LTA officer sure does not help improving the image.
Americans sometimes put 'yo' end of a sentence to similar effect. Yo.
Singapore's cheapness is due to its extreme levels of labor suppression. A couple of years ago they imprisoned bus drivers striking over unfair pay (they essentially had explicitly racist pay scales * ). They've deported and imprisoned other union activists. In the 80s the prime minister stepped in to break a strike in Singapore Airlines staff promising "I will, by every means at my disposal, teach you a lesson you won’t forget. And I’m prepared to start all over again. Or stop it!" and subsequently threw the strikers in prison.
The practical upshot if this is that they have huge income and wealth inequality compared to other countries less brutal to labor movements and the workplace cultures are usually "keep your head down and don't EVER criticize the boss" (small wonder very little decent software is created there).
Food and taxis and other similar services are embarrassingly cheap. If you're relatively wealthy and gaping inequality doesn't bother you, it's pretty awesome. It scores really high on those "economic freedom" measures because of this.
This is also partly why Uber - whose USP involves is capitalizing on other countries trending towards low wage commoditization by accelerating that process, isn't doing especially well there compared to incumbents.
* * Yes, it's true. Please read this before instinctively hitting downvote: http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/12/05/singapore-drop-charges-ag...
Wrong. You're talking about Chinese-national bus drivers getting paid less in a country that's 75% Chinese ancestry.
The bus driver salary hierarchy was : Singaporean -> Malaysian -> PRC Chinese
PRCs are regularly denigrated with terms like "foreign trash" and "PRC scum" - they get the epithets much worse than most other immigrants - with the exception of Bangladeshis. I don't know why they look down on them with disdain given their shared ancestry but they do. If you want to see this racism for yourself, look at the comments of a website called 'stomp'.
In any case, the salaries accurately reflected the default prejudices of the society. It would be like if American bus drivers paid whites more than latinos who in turn got more than blacks.
They went on strike because of this and got beaten up and thrown in prison before being deported.
Right. And the 0 compensation of slaves before emancipation in the United States reflected their relative negotiating power.
>The pricing of labor is exactly what you'd expect from economic and political incentives
Right. If you get the police to beat up union organizers and throw them in prison it does tend to exert downward pressure on wages - which was exactly my point.
That's partly why it's the "2nd best country" to do business according to CATO: docile, servile labor.
In many countries Uber is just another taxi brand, one that's licensed by the local authorities. The only thing it has going for it is the app, but all their competitors have apps too. Plus, I've never had to use an app - I just call an automated number, press one digit and a taxi arrives at my door within a few minutes. If I'm using a mobile phone then the operator answers.
Then there are the zones; your home is a bit outside the city? The meter will be running - at an increased rate! - before the car even arrives.
Never had a missed cab, cars are always very clean and drivers good. I honestly can't think of a single problem I've had with them in what must be 15+ years of regular use.
And this is the problem. Uber is providing superior service for less cost. Clearly the city, which enacts laws on my and other tax payers behalf, isn't actually acting in my favor when it goes after uber and lyft.
If we manifestly don't need the laws protecting the taxi racket then let's do away with the regulation -- not pile more on.
Which is why in Europe things like Hailonand MyTaxi are taking off. They put a level of indirection between you and the driver by handling the payment and receipt. They are great as a result. The rest of the uber experience I care a surprising little amount about.
This is almost all true and ride-sharing has totally changed the game in St. Louis. One nitpick: the area's biggest cab company has had an app for a few years [0]. It's not a perfect app, but I used it a lot before Uber started operating.
[0] STLtaxi by Laclede Cab https://appsto.re/us/OF-TL.i
It takes me 20-30 seconds to call and order a cab in the UK
And it gets much better when you can see an ETA and an approximate location of the incoming cab.
How it works for me is:
ring ring "hi can I have a cab to location I am at location y"
Dispatcher asks my name and "says that will be 10 min" I get an sms when the cab has been dispatched and another when it arives that says ita a silver priaus licene plate no xxxxx.
If I hailed a cab and make the mistake of disclosing my destination before getting in the car, they'd usually just drive off without saying anything. If I got in the car before telling them where I was going, they'd often start making a fuss and listing off excuses as to why they couldn't go there, and I'd basically have to "force" them to drive.
I never got such grief from Uber.
You can still have a shitty experience, but for locals it's mostly fine. I doubt Uber will take off there in any big way. I'm wondering if that's the same way for Qatari locals, or if there was another reason for Uber to catch on.
"unless you look foreign"so happens alot to tourists?
Ah, so, Uber will have a permanent presence to serve tourists. I see how this is. :-)
I would argue that Uber (and Ola) have raised my standard of living as far as transport is concerned. I've stayed in Bangalore & Chennai and have travelled in a few more cities.
All problems that you mention ring true here plus an additional things - most taxis & autorickshaws don't even run on the meter. Every ride involves a ritual of haggling the price. If you're new to a city, it is certain that you would be fleeced. Then, many would deny the ride to a destination if it is not a hotspot. On few days I've take the local transport, I get dropped off a kilometre away from my home and have to walk the rest.
I would never take a local taxi or an autorickshaw if there is an Uber/Ola available.
1) People don't drive
In US everyone drives, in fact you need one. But you see none of my friends in Japan own a car. The only people who owns one are people that are well offed. This is because owning a car in Japan is expensive (there is thing called 車検), a hassle (no parking), and getting a driver's license is long and hard. Supply is low.
2) Cash
In Japan most people still carry cash. Their preferred method of payments (in order) are: cash, Suica (debit card for train), and then credit card tied with NFC in phone that charges your phone bill. So Taxis are more convenient than Uber.
3) Part-time jobs are everywhere
You see it's very easy to get a part-time jobs. In fact most college students are doing it all the time. In US Uber looks attractive "I can drive and make money!", but in Japan it is "I just have to go to that place that dispatch part-time jobs and will make money".
4) Zoning
This is a bit similar to what the article talks about but in a different perspective. Don't forget that Japan fits in California. Each city have its own law and you need to pay a lot for each zone. My family operates in one district and have 2 competitors. Other district have its own. Each city have its own market and demand. You can't even pilot in a small region because if you drive 15 minutes you are already in another district, which you are not allowed to pickup. These zoning are strict, and japanese people know about it. It existed from the day yakuza used it as protection fees.
5) Anybody can be a taxi driver
You see its not hard to be a taxi driver if you really want to be one. These are called 個人タクシー and can operate on your own.
In addition to that, part of taxis service is human powered. Like helping you get luggage in a trunk and providing local knowledge. A taxi driver in Japan once told me they make most by driving old people from grocery stores back home. Will self driving car have a robot helping them with the bags?
Taxis are pretty much everywhere, never had to call for one except when it rains and I want to be picked up at my door.
I assume you live in Tokyo? Here in Kyushu it seems like everyone has a car...
This claim seems absurd. Fiduciary duty is a legal concept, and for obvious reasons, there can never be a legal obligation to break the law. Americans might think it's ethically OK for corporations to break some laws. But a claim that a CEO had violated legal duties to shareholders by not breaking the law would get instantly laughed out of court.
I think that real issue here is that it would not get laughed out of the board room or a shareholders meeting.
And anyway, if there's a better service to be had, that people want and are willing to pay for, screw the law, it's a high-latency side chain of authority that has built-in, but slow and political, update mechanisms, not the actual Word Of God.
Zizek: Here I’m a little bit of anti-democratic pessimist in the sense that if you really ask people, cut the bullshit, what do you really want from government, I don’t think people really want that government should not torture people and so on, the point is do it but do it discretely I don’t want to know it.
I guess the broader lesson implied is that you need to put in the effort to understand the local culture, and adapt your strategies accordingly, before you try to enter a new country.
A similar story is playing out in Hong Kong, even without the government cracking down as hard. There are some annoying taxi drivers, but for the most part, local taxis are cheap, fast and comfortable.
Partly because the roads are less congested, even in the heart of Tokyo, since so many take the train. I never found myself wishing I could take an Uber in Japan -- a taxi was always there when I needed it... and that was only if I wasn't near a train station, which was almost never.
Edit: There is a flip side to this though. In Japan it was obvious to me that people take pride in their work. Even people who drove taxis out clean train stations. The resulting quality of work was astonishing. However, I also got the impression that these people are give respect for their good work. I don't think many taxi drivers in the US respect their own work and society for sure doesn't make them feel respected. Respect seems to be much tighter coupled to monetary success and I can't say I'm free from that.
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”
For me, taxi driving was a game: "I wonder who I'm going to meet today..." One of my passengers had been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. He didn't win - I picked him up at the homeless shelter. He was going to work, and was almost back on his feet...
Sometimes passengers remembered me.
Sometimes passengers provided the rest of the story for things I'd been wondering about, or confirmed 'tall tales'. Like the bartender who confirmed that the visiting NBA basketball players really did come into his bar that night... Months before, the other night driver on our little team had said, "YOU'LL NEVER GUESS WHO WAS IN THE CAB LAST NIGHT!"
> and society for sure doesn't make them feel respected. Respect seems to be much tighter coupled to monetary success and I can't say I'm free from that.
Plenty of my passengers let me know that they appreciated us.
Taxi driving has traditionally been a rough occupation. Drivers used to carry a lot of cash, and were seen as targets for thugs who were desperate for money. Cash isn't as common as it used to be, so taxi drivers don't have to project as much "toughness" as they used to.
I was always looking for a bigger picture, so I guess my experiences in the cab reflect that.
When we missed the shuttle to the train station, the shuttle manager apologized profusely, like they had done something wrong, when really we had just showed up a few minutes late.
I use Uber pretty much exclusively these days, but in Japan it doesn't make sense: in central Tokyo, you can hail a cab in seconds on any major street, and outside it, the nearest train station will have a taxi rank. And if you go out far enough that you need to call a cab, then Uber's unlikely to serve the area either.
I happen to have co-founded a multi-national startup. The best advice I have for going multi-national as a startup is don't.
Was dropbox not a startup when it went to become available outside the US? Their expansion plans didn't require offices in each country
This seams like a pretty naive rhetorical question.
Regulatory burden is different in each country. Look at github problems with Russia in the past. Or Google and EU's "right to be forgotten," worse yet, local politicians that make your business model illegal.
Also, culture / sales process is different in every country. VP of sales for North America is not going is going to have a hard time making a dent in Asia. The sales culture in Japan is very different from the one in China.
Some places have a culture of bribery to get anything done. And you know what the SEC/FTC can go after you in the US because the money goes through a bank in the US.
Now if you happen to have employees in that market place (and in some cases you're require to sell locally) you have to follow local labor which vary tremendously from country to country. Then you have local taxation laws, then you have your home countries taxation laws that deal with foreign sales.
If you multiply these headaches by say 10 or 20 markets. That's something very difficult for most startups (or even mid-size companies) to tackle.
> Was dropbox not a startup when it went to become available outside the US? Their expansion plans didn't require offices in each country
Dropbox being a self service product over the web is not a great example. Sure that can be a replicated by some segment of SaaS companies... but there's a lot more segments out there then SasS.
If you're a SAAS company, why no go multinational? I guess with MUBI you'd have hoops to jump through re: licencing though?
My thesis is this: if you can't get traction in one country, then acquiring customers in other countries is not going to make the difference which pushes you over the top. It may be the case that the country which you can gain traction in is not your own country, which will bring its own challenges but still doable. However, if there is not one single country which can offer you a sufficient market then I suspect that trying to piece together a customer base from many countries will drown you in overhead. You can make qualifications like English-only, USD-only, EST-business-hours-support-only, etc, etc, but at the end of the day each country has its own culture and you end up diluting your effort. This is to say nothing of regulatory or billing issues (note that accepting and clearing payments in other countries is a lot more involved than just looking at Stripe's supported countries list). My experience is that the human mind, especially the software engineer's mind, is very susceptible to building a mental model where going global appears to be a small marginal effort. You can even design your business plan that way and it still looks relatively tidy, but then once you get into the weeds you find a never-ending stream of details you overlooked. I guess this happens in all companies, but if you are serving multiple countries it's just more compromises you don't want to choose between: do I do something that sort of works globally, or something that really works locally? Companies that have some kind of physicality like Uber or Airbnb obviously have to think even more locally to individual cities, but for the average SaaS my instinct is country is the right granularity.
What is this referring to?
The real reason for Uber's failure is public transit and taxis in Japan are amazing (and for a decent price).
The biggest failure of Uber that I'm familiar with of is ex-NYC New York, and that's essentially because the Feds are tapping every politician's phone at the moment[1], and it's difficult for their lobbyists to do whatever they do to "influence" outcomes.
[1][http://nypost.com/2015/05/04/state-majority-leader-dean-skel...]
Dream on. The Yakuza simply have not been paid off.
Japan's Yakuza hasn't been a thing since the U.S mafia was a thing. They have similar political influence these days; little to none. They've either all gone legit, gone into grey area markets (pachinko, porn, etc) or flat out folded. Many have actually gone white-collar, getting into internet start-ups and investing in the stock market.
See here, "Where Have Japan's Yakuza Gone?": http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/09/where-have-...
Japan has cracked down on the Yakuza governmental/political corruption so much so, that it doesn't exist anymore.
Don't get me wrong, the yakuza exists, sorta, but not in the same way they existed back in the 1970s or 80s when they ran the show. Things have changed dramatically since.
Where countries like Japan who do not have a medallion system really, there is not much to drive prices up for taxi fares for Uber and like to undercut to be successful.
A good taxi and transit system isnt everything... I live near YVR, we have taxis lined up at YVR for convenience. You are also paying way more cause first, the taxi medallions are so expensive... Then there additional fees for being licensed to do pickups at YVR in the designated area.
Everyone I know who commutes via taxi or transit wishes Uber types were here (banned).
Especially when u fly to DFW and the only options for a taxi is a broken minivan 20 mins later.
And then Uber being less than half and a lot quicker.
Convenience and cost. If Japan has those covered, then no reason for a Uber type to be operating there
They had a ruthless focus on clean cars, uniformed drivers (I was talking to one of the drivers, if they where not clean and presentable he wouldn't put them in service), they'd even jump out and help you load your shopping etc.
You got a text with the drivers number and plate number and could even set it up so someone else got the same details (handy for parents, partners etc).
He absolutely decimated the local badly run taxi firms, the good drivers moved to him and the other firms had to run to catch up or die out.
It was fascinating to watch as an outsider the change across the whole city once word got out.
There is yet another category commonly referred to 'izakaya' taxi, these are also private taxis who work together as a network to compete with the big players.
Things to know * all taxis are clean * some are spotless ie washed every morning * 75%+ are equipped with wireless radio * 90% of cars in general in japan have gps, so it should not come as a huge suprise to see taxis who have 2 units. * Most of the big fleets accept every credit card under the sun including certain cards from some processors not too popular elsewhere (JCB). Some accept nfc 'type' payments from several different incompatible processors. * In the good old days 90s - you could call a cab company and they would radio (motorola) a taxi to your location. Now the big companies have apps developed by 3rd party vendors which support points for free rides etc.
People in Tokyo prefer the subway because its quicker in most cases- So you are left with * people use cabs to get from pt a to pt b by making an on the spur of the moment decision. i see a cab i jump in. Uber would have a problem unless the fleet was huge from the get go.
* other people who 'plan' and use a cab can easily call one of the established players. Addresses are fairly resonably defined in tokyo and gps kits are excellect after having being engineered for 10+ years. Uber would have a problem because their software is not adding any value to what incubments are offering
* then there is this segment of people who use taxis for everything- thats where the izakaya taxis come in. They provide a first class experience using luxury grade cars (think lexus++) that are able to handle the longer distance rides, they might offer you a beer, tea etc. This is a premium service, you call the cab and he has you registered if youve used hiw before so he knows you by name. If hes busy enroute with another customer, he will just route you to his buddy. They mostly have 2 smart phones to help with this and they do this while driving with off the shelf apps well configured.
All factored in Uber's traditional model is challenged. But Uber hopefully has deep pockets, they should start by buying a small fleet and focus on certain/towns.
Even at the main Shinkansen station in Osaka, there's a 50% probability that a taxi driver wont have (or wont know how to use) a GPS. I've regularly had taxi drivers dig out dogeared maps to try and figure out where I want to go.
If you give an taxi driver and address, they often take you to the general location and then need help from there.
It's a wildly different culture in so many different ways, and there are tonnes of local competitors who are likely in your niche, but specifically targeting Japan, with an intimate knowledge of Japanese culture. The few foreign tech companies that have done well in Japan basically have a separate business and product just for Japan, like Yahoo Japan.
If you're thinking about investing significantly into entering Japan as an American tech company, you probably shouldn't, unless you're willing to invest HUGE resources into it (and even then, it's a massive gamble).
I wonder if Uber could have achieved success in markets with more trusted governments (Germany, Japan) if they started with a softer approach.
At least, that's how it looks over in USA/Canada.
Meaning that common law nations may have a more adversarial attitude towards government because judicial rulings carry much more weight.
>Their significant price advantage comes from the fact that they choose to ignore a great many laws and regulations that their competition must follow. Airbnb hosts routinely ignore zoning laws, hotel taxes, safety regulations and insurance requirements. Most Uber drivers do not have taxi or chauffeur licenses, obtain commercial insurance, pass safely inspections or comply with ADA regulations.
In my opinion Uber is nothing but a business that makes money by shifting every responsibility that an employer should hold on the drivers who function as pseudo self-employed individuals while Uber rakes in a quick buck. A business that any nation can do without. Companies need to be able to be held reliable to regulations and standards. Uber's whole model is incompatible with this.
Those of us who are less democratic and more individualistic recognize how horrible it is when democracy prevents consenting adults from engaging in harmless private activities. The tyranny of the majority is still tyranny.
Also, "democratic will of the people" cannot exist: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrow%27s_impossibility_theore...
It's 100% okay to talk about this, but if we do talk about this, let's also talk about what happens when you get the local politicians to enshrine your particular business model in law and block all your competition from stealing your property - I mean, your customers.
Is that a "fair" advantage?
In most other civilized places with governments that succeed in these areas, Uber just doesn't have product market fit. The legal problems are only producing noise.
For one, it uses the spare time and preexisting cars of regular people (which are cheap) and two, it has the algorithms and data to pool more than one person in the same car.
Of course they are, this feature is highly dependent on network effects and Uber is the biggest player.
> Also there are no preexisting cars of regular people for Uber to take advantage of because regular people don't have adequate insurance.
Besides the fact that most people don't give a shit about this, Uber does provide commercial insurance for UberX drivers while they are logged in: https://www.intact.ca/uber-ride-sharing
EDIT: however, I did see TONS of AirBnB (or the like) in Japan. Temporary housing is certainly a problem they DO have (at least in the cities)... perhaps even more than western nations...
From what I gathered, in Japan you basically pay a set fine for travelling over a certain speed. So he added that into the fare (vaguely recall it was 15% or so).
Long story short, after some very impressive driving we got there in time. I gained a massive appreciation for Japanese taxi drivers that day.
There are ultimately many reasons why US startups fail in some Asian markets (including China and Japan), and it can't be reduced to cultural differences or protective regulations.
> In Japan, the western part of the country (Kyoto and west) uses 60 Hz and the eastern part (Tokyo and east) uses 50 Hz. This originates in the first purchases of generators from AEG in 1895, installed for Tokyo, and General Electric in 1896, installed in Osaka. The boundary between the two regions contains four back-to-back HVDC substations which convert the frequency; these are Shin Shinano, Sakuma Dam, Minami-Fukumitsu, and the Higashi-Shimizu Frequency Converter.
I hope someday I'll see the company that will act as an umbrella to all service companies out there, and will filter out all those pretending fools unable to clean my carpet, install new furniture or repair pc. I'm really tired of this local 'legal market'. I need it done, not legal.
I'm based in Helsinki, Finland and Shanghai, China (50/50). Two very different countries in all aspects. In both countries government used to regulate taxis and today China does not anymore but Finland still does.
In Finland taxis are very new (BMW, Mercedes Benz, Audi, Tesla etc.) and expensive (supported with tax payers money) and they are REALLY expensive to take. Way too expensive. This may sound ridiculous, but in my home town (major Finnish city) during the weekends it was common for people to walk home 7-10km after the night out, because taxis are so expensive. They are not seen as normal transportation service but instead more as a luxury service that you have to carefully consider before taking. They are still very safe, clean, have their own Uber-like app etc. Finns have demanded many many years (long before Uber) for the taxi-monopoly to be destroyed, but the government has happily turned a blind eye to them. Ubers in Finland are usually Toyotas or Volkswagens, quite new and clean. Prices are only 50-60% of traditional taxis.
So what about China? Taxis are old/medium-level volkswagens, little dirty, driver may be smoking inside the car, quite safe but there are many people playing with the meter or overcharging in some other ways. Some drivers are also really greedy and arrogant: They may ask you where are you going before letting you into the car and if they don't like the route they'll not take you. Anyway they are relatively affordable for average people in China. When Uber and it's Chinese competitor DiDi came to the market, the government was confused at first but later legalized them when they realized that competition will benefit all in the long run. Now? Uber and Didi are extremely popular, significantly cheaper than traditional taxis, clean, safe and no more people have to worry about getting bullshitted with the cab fare.
So once again Uber made things better for all. Sometimes breaking the law in not only acceptable, but required for a greater good and change to happen. In Finland however it might take a while since the government is still living in their 1950s mentality and currently hunting down Uber drivers and suing them.
Some might say it's wrong that Uber is putting all the responsibility on the driver. You know what? It's not. They know what they are signing up for and besides if Uber as a company was responsible for every single incident all over the world in every country, the company wouldn't exist anymore. No investor money could cover all those fines. The current way is the only way Uber can exist and only way the change can happen.