{"id":654891,"date":"2026-06-19T13:09:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T11:09:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=654891"},"modified":"2026-06-19T13:13:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T11:13:13","slug":"uber-south-africa-registration-application-confirmed-three-months-after-deadline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/motoring\/654891-uber-south-africa-registration-application-confirmed-three-months-after-deadline.html","title":{"rendered":"Uber South Africa registration application confirmed \u2014 three months after deadline"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Department of Transport has confirmed it received an application for an e-hailing registration certificate from Uber South Africa, three months after the registration deadline lapsed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite being the largest e-hailing platform in South Africa, Uber has lagged behind rivals like Bolt, InDrive, and Wanatu in terms of compliance with the new National Land Transport Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From the gazetting of the NLTA on 12 September 2025, e-hailing operators were given a 180-day grace period to comply with its requirements and obtain a registration certificate after a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.transport.gov.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/FINAL_STANDARDOPERATING_PROCEDURE.pdf\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.transport.gov.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/FINAL_STANDARDOPERATING_PROCEDURE.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">7-step process<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That designated 11 March 2026 as the deadline for registration. In a gazette notice on 19 June 2026, the department notified the public that Uber South Africa had applied for registration.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The National Public Transport Regulator (NPTR) hereby gives notice that it has received an application for registration as an e-hailing provider platform from Uber South Africa Services,&#8221; it said.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The department invited members of the public to submit written comments or representations on the application within 14 days of the notice&#8217;s publication.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is only the third of seven steps for an e-hailing entity to obtain full registration in South Africa, following the receipt of the application and verification.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Following the notification, the NPTR will begin an adjudication process that will include an in-person demonstration of the e-hailing app or platform before a board appointed by the regulator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the demonstration is approved, the NPTR will fully register the provider and issue them a certificate. The final step will involve informing provincial regulatory entities of the registration.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Only three e-hailing companies completed the process ahead of the March deadline: Wanatu, Bolt, and Maxim. InDrive secured its registration in late May.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Uber previously confirmed that it submitted the application &#8220;well before&#8221; the deadline. It is unclear why it took such a long time for its registration application to be gazetted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The same gazette also notified the public that a company called Hezy Holdings had applied for e-hailing registration in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Uber is technically operating unlawfully in South Africa<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Barbara-Creecy-presenting-budget-vote-2026-1200x675.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-650807\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Barbara-Creecy-presenting-budget-vote-2026-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Barbara-Creecy-presenting-budget-vote-2026-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Barbara-Creecy-presenting-budget-vote-2026-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Barbara-Creecy-presenting-budget-vote-2026-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Barbara-Creecy-presenting-budget-vote-2026.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Barbara Creecy, South African Minister of Transport.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>About a month before the deadline, the department said it had received applications from 10 companies. That increased to 12 over the next few weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Uber is among eight other major e-hailing operators that have not completed registration. The company has continued to operate despite not being fully registered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The regulations do not regard an application before the deadline as sufficient to operate lawfully in the country, as operators must be in possession of a registration certificate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Uber confirmed it had submitted its application by 17 February 2026. Since then, 122 calendar days and 88 weekdays have passed.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The NPTR is supposed to take just 60 days to process an application. It had completed the entire registration process of Wanatu and Bolt in less than 90 days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>MyBroadband has repeatedly asked Uber for more information on why its registration process has been delayed, but has not received feedback on our queries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is still unclear whether the NPTR or Uber is to blame for the delay. One possibility is that its original application was returned for being incomplete or defective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;If there are problems with the application that cannot be resolved by assisting the applicant, the official must reject the application and advise the applicant on what is missing or wrong,&#8221; the department said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other delays could be encountered during the verification step of the process, where the regulator would have to verify the authenticity of the operator&#8217;s ICASA certificates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It would also have to verify that the details on the operator&#8217;s tax compliance status PIN are the same as those on the application form. E-filing compliance would also have to be checked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After the processing of public comments, Uber will begin adjudication with the NPTR, where a representative must demonstrate the Uber platform to officials in person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This demonstration would allow the regulator to verify whether Uber&#8217;s platform met the minimum requirements under the National Land Transport Regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The regulations require certain core technical features, including driver and vehicle verification, geographic tracking, fare estimates, ICASA compliance, and safety features like panic buttons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Uber would also have to demonstrate that it is tax-compliant and that its platform actively blocks drivers who do not possess a valid e-hailing operating licence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Department of Transport has notified the public that Uber South Africa has applied for registration in the country, three months after the deadline lapsed. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341213,"featured_media":654899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29366],"tags":[26172,10706,63589,106005,106003,533,98757,106004,101979,20853,40302],"class_list":["post-654891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motoring","tag-bolt","tag-department-of-transport","tag-e-hailing","tag-e-hailing-registrations","tag-hezy-holdings","tag-icasa","tag-indrive","tag-national-land-transport-regulations","tag-national-public-transport-regulator","tag-uber","tag-uber-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654891"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341213"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=654891"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654891\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":654941,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654891\/revisions\/654941"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/654899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=654891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=654891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}