Ride sharing companies are welcome to operate if they follow the rules- Transportation Minister Todd Stone

Vancouver- British Columbia’s Transportation Minister is rejecting a request by Uber that the government revise regulations on licensing such operations, saying the current system is ready to process “ride-sharing” services that want to operate in the province.

Uber Canada argues that the current licensing system, which is overseen by B.C.’s Passenger Transportation Board, can’t accommodate ride-sharing services and called on the province to update the law.

But Transportation Minister Todd Stone, who earlier this week said he wanted to see services such as Uber “grow and flourish” alongside traditional taxis, ruled out legislative changes. He said if Uber wants, it can apply now.

“The regulatory framework is there,” Mr. Stone said Thursday. “Uber and companies like it need to continue to sit down and talk through their wishes and desires.”

The Transportation Ministry said such applications go first to a ministry registrar and then to the Passenger Transportation Board, a five-member independent tribunal that makes decisions on applications for licensing passenger-directed vehicles such as taxis, limousines and shuttle vans.

If licences are approved, they are issued by the Passenger Transportation Branch.

The provincial government has previously taken a strict line against Uber, but that message changed this week when Mr. Stone said Uber and other ride-sharing services will inevitably come to British Columbia.

Asked about how his thinking on the file has evolved, Mr. Stone repeated Thursday that the government has been listening to residents of the province on this file.

“We’re hearing pretty consistently from a lot of British Columbians who see the benefits of the types of services that ride-sharing services like Uber provide and really want to see these services offered in British Columbia,” he said.

Such companies are welcome to operate if they follow the rules, he added.