Online taxi company Uber is planning to introduce a new taxi service after the summer using professional drivers.

It will definitely not be a private car taxi service like the illegal Uberpop, a spokesman told the Volkskrant.

However, Uber is planning to dispense with the compulsory blue licence plates in order to make it easier to become an Uber chauffeur.

The new service will bring Uber into line with plans announced by transport minister Wilma Mansveld in May to shake up the way the Dutch taxi sector is regulated, which will make it easier for new players to enter the market.

‘We want to alter a number of the existing rules,’ the Uber spokesman said. ‘The blue licence plate is unnecessary in our model.’

In addition, Uber drivers will not have to print out a receipt for passengers as other taxi drivers must do, because the Uber app provides much the same service.

Prices are expected to be 20% to30% lower than is now the case, Uber said.

UberX

The name of the new service has not yet been decided, but it may be called UberX, a service that is shortly being launched in Brussels. These taxis are midway between the illegal Uberpop service and the more luxurious and professional UberBlack.

The new service is a reaction to the moves taken by the Dutch government against Uberpop since it was launched last year, the Volkskrant says. Dozens of drivers have been fined with the company paying out at least €100,000 to cover the cost.

The new service will not replace Uberpop with its amateur drivers, the company said. However, Uberpop will remain illegal, Mansveld said in May, because ‘they do not comply with the law and nor will they when new measures are enacted’.