Vietnam will welcome Uber operations in the country if the ridesharing app partners only with licensed firms that are eligible to provide transport services, Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang asserted Monday.

Uber’s presence is encouraged if they comply with Vietnamese law, the minister said during his meeting yesterday with Jordan Condo, Uber's head of public policy for the Asia Pacific region, in Hanoi.

The Uber representative rejected Thang’s request to share the list of Vietnamese transport firms that have contracts with the San Francisco-based company.

Condo asserted that Uber only contracted local transport firms which have a business license.

However, Khuat Viet Hung, deputy chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committee, said he has taken ten Uber rides to have first-hand experience of the service, and found that none of the cars that picked him up meet conditions to operate as a transport business.

“The cars have no badges and do not display their company names and phone numbers as required,” Hung said.

There are five legal types of transport businesses in Vietnam, namely taxis, buses, passenger coaches, cargo carriers and for-hire cars, according to Hung.

“If Uber only provides technology to these five types of businesses, it is a legal and welcome service,” Hung said. “Otherwise, Uber will violate the law by assisting the unlicensed businesses.”

In concluding the meeting, Minister Thang assigned the transport ministry’s transportation department to file a request to Uber, asking the company to only contract licensed transport firms.

Uber should only partner with businesses whose car fleets are equipped with badges, logos and tracking devices.

The transportation department is also tasked with demanding that transport companies stick to the law if they are using Uber’s services.

With Uber refusing to publicize the list of its Vietnamese partners, Minister Thang ordered that the transport ministry’s inspectors conduct regular or unexpected checks on Uber cars and sanction violators, if any.

Uber, which connects passengers and drivers via a smartphone app, started offering services in the Southeast Asian country on July 31, with rides now available in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

As in many other cities where it operates, Uber is facing legal challenges in Vietnam, including its legality to operate as a transport business and tax issues.

An official from the Vietnamese Ministry of Finance revealed on Sunday that the ministry is considering asking Uber to pay two types of taxes on the revenue it generates in Vietnam, including a three percent value-added tax and a two percent corporate income tax.

Uber customers use the app to request rides and track their reserved vehicle's location, with information, including the fare and estimated arrival time, made known before they get in the car.

The complete fare is automatically billed to the customer's credit card at the end of a ride.

Uber is a controversial service in many of the 250 cities worldwide the company has a presence in, mostly because it can offer lower fees due to the absence of regulations.

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