Here in Melbourne Australia, Uber has caused the government to deregulate the car hire/taxi business. So the cost of entry for car hire is identical for an Uber

Here in Melbourne Australia, Uber has caused the government to deregulate the car hire/taxi business. So the cost of entry for car hire is identical for an Uber driver or other limo/car hire services. It's the cost of the car, the cost of the driver, and the cost of access to bookings. For street hail, the cost is higher because the government sets regulation about the equipment (eg compulsory CCTV, meters etc). The net result is that the cost of an Uber ride is almost identical to a street hire, identical to using one of the other apps that are around (13 cabs, Ola etc). Uber has a name/brand advantage, but it has lost the cost advantage over the old taxi model and it has lost the app advantage as the app is easily replaceable. Many drivers operate on more than one app and street hail cabs (the "original" taxis) operate on both. Uber's business model for their core business is unsustainable, the margins and operating costs are identical to other operators, there is no advantage of scale.