Queensland's taxi industry bosses say price surging is inevitable due to the legalisation of ride-sharing services.
Ride-sharing giant Uber became legal in Queensland on Monday, prompting more than 150 owners, drivers and investors to protest outside Parliament House in Brisbane.
Queensland Taxi Council president Max McBride admits price surging is likely in the future but argued it won't be as expensive as Uber.
"I would never think the Queensland taxi industry would be involved in that ... but once the genie is out of the bottle you can't put it back."
Yellow Cabs Queensland general manager Bill Parker said protests may continue because drivers felt as though the new framework hadn't created a level playing field.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
"I think they're suffering from grief," he told AAP.
Mr Parker says drivers and owners will try to resist the temptation to drive up prices as it was not in their interests to charge more for bookings.
"We are not going to disenfranchise ourselves from our existing client base. We need to keep giving them value for money," he said.
"There are people in this industry who will want to (price surge) because they feel their rights have been stolen from them and their work has been stolen from them."
The Palaszczuk government last month announced it was legalising ride-sharing with a $100 million transition package, including a hardship fund and compensation for existing cab licences.
Taxis retain exclusive rights to ranks and hail jobs and can price surge for bookings.
Uber, though, has circumnavigated the exclusivity over ranks by doing a deal with the Brisbane Airport Corporation so its ride-sharing vehicles are only minutes from the arrivals area.
Under the deal, Uber will charge its customers $3 to exit the airport while taxis will continue to pay $3.60.
Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said the cab industry was better off because some 80 regulations governing taxis had been removed.
Mr Hinchliffe said the elimination of those regulations would allow taxis to be on a more level playing field and compete better with ride-sharing services.
