Uber row: Bright Simons condemns Transport Ministry

Apparently, the Ministry of Transport, after surveying all the many problems we have in that sector, has concluded that one of its priorities this year is to force Uber cars to adopt "taxi colours". Which in Ghana means the car must be painted with at least two colours on both sides and the bonnet.

What exact value does this add? To whose benefit is this?

Normal taxis need all that gaudiness because otherwise they will be difficult to spot and hail when one is standing by the roadside. With Uber, you "hail" them using an app. So the gaudy colours are of zero use.

The only argument I have heard advanced so far is that it would help with tax collection.

I can't believe that. For the first time you have a situation where commercial transport is booked centrally. Every ride is being tracked. And the app owner is right here in Ghana. What better tax collection arrangement can you have than working with the app company to facilitate direct tax payments through the app?

The only "good" thing that would come out of such a policy is "signalling" to Police to do their "forced tip harassment".

Folks think some of us are anti-State because we are always finding problems with government proposals. It is not an addiction or anything like that. It is simply that the ideas state agencies come up with frequently don't look like they have been passed through any critical filter.

SMH.