Ride sharing services like Uber could help give the Victorian taxi industry the kick it needs to change archaic rules and regulations.
The app-based transport business has been accused of providing an illegal service, but Victorian Taxi Service commissioner Graham Samuel says it is one of the many disruptive technologies that the industry needs to keep up with.
The Uber app connects drivers in private cars with those wanting to travel in and around Melbourne.
"The use of cars, in the way Uber does it, is illegal," Mr Samuel told Fairfax radio on Wednesday.
"But at long last, they are coming to the party to try and make their operations legal, their drivers are now required to get accredited."
Mr Samuel said drivers needed accreditation because without it, there was no record of who they were and no possibility of tracking them down if something went wrong.
He said Uber - and other companies across the globe - were flouting current laws, which he called arcane. And, they were getting away with it.
"In many, many industries, the new processes and smartphone apps have the ability to track where drivers are, book a cab and pay using the app," he said.
"The law, ultimately, has to catch up."
He said many changes had already been put in place during his tenure, but it was a matter for the state's new Andrews government to continue to reform the industry.
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