The ACT government will not fine passengers who use ride-sharing service Uber before changes to regulation are made to ensure safety standards and ease competition concerns.
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Uber is expected to arrive in the territory as soon as October, although the government is still weeks away from releasing a review of the taxi industry, with legislation yet to be introduced.
"The government won't be taking action in terms of issuing fines – full stop," Chief Minister Andrew Barr said.
"Uber would like to be operating in a regulated environment in this city as soon as the next four or five weeks."
Greens Minister Shane Rattenbury, who is assisting Mr Barr on transport reform, said it was not clear when Uber would arrive although it may do so before regulation is introduced.
"We are certainly working as quickly as we can to get regulation in place and we have indicated that Uber should expect that, and we trust they will abide by it," he said.
Close to 100 taxi drivers launched strike action on Wednesday morning and called on the government to protect the industry from Uber, which is exempt from the same regulation and offers cheaper rates.
Mr Barr said there were significant differences between taxis and ride-sharing services although he was committed to "levelling the playing field" on issues including insurance, driver background checks and consumer protection.
"It's not the government's business to protect [taxi drivers'] livelihoods," he said.
"It is the government's business to provide the best possible transport system for Canberrans and interstate and international visitors."
Mr Rattenbury, who addressed the protesting taxi drivers on Wednesday morning, said Canberrans were looking for better transport services and many would welcome Uber.
"I think people will embrace it but not everyone will and I think there will be a demographic split as younger people seem quite comfortable and older people prefer taxis," he said.
"We have had a very open consultation process and have received a lot of submission from those actively supporting to those totally opposing it."
Sikh Taxi Drivers Association of Canberra chairman Jagjit Singh, who helped organise the taxi protest, said the public did not understand how many fees drivers and owners had to pay to operate a taxi.
"We are paying thousands in registration, insurance and other fees each month, and Uber drivers don't have the burden of those costs."
Another at the protest, Amit Kumar, who has been driving taxis for six years, said the decision to strike was necessary given their concerns.
"This is affecting our families as well ... this is our business and we are taking the food from these jobs," he said.
"You can see how many people are here and if Uber has a negative impact then many of these people are going to be looking for new jobs."
An Uber spokesman said the strikes only underlined why many Canberrans were eager to see Uber operating in the ACT.
"The number of people who attended our recent on-boarding session far outweighed the small number of protesters on the streets today," he said.
"We appreciate the government's progressive and cooperative approach to reform of the point-to-point transport industry and look forward to working with the government on a regulated launch for ridesharing in 2015."
Mr Rattenbury said Uber's arrival in the ACT was inevitable although the government would introduce legislation to make taxis more competitive in coming months.
"We do intend to regulate Uber and there will be a degree of regulation – similar to what the taxis have to go through already," he said.
"We also intend to undertake a range of deregulation for the taxi industry, to take away some of the rules and costs that have been placed on the taxi industry, thus starting to level out the playing field."
