24 THE WEEKEND NEOS KOSMOS I SATURDAY 16 APRIL 2016 DIGITAL.NEOSKOSMOS.COM

BUSINESS

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A Greek Australian woman's transition from the arts to the helm of a taxi empire ANTHONY STAVRINOS derlying sexism in Australian career in visual communi- the hosts of Karamela Radio in taxi industry seems to be revenue from taxi operators,

society and we're a long way cations with packed social Sydney, interviewed countless built on rorts and self-inter- including compulsory appli-As art director for several ma- off from true equality." schedules, to the rough and Greek artists and celebrities. est," Roula says. cation of stickers in the taxi jor magazines, Roula Angel Her gutsy determination and tumble taxi industry, where Roula, who has risen to the "The government has been which were marked up con-enjoyed a privileged place active role in the NSW taxi aesthetics didn't matter but challenge of running the faro - part of the problem, imposing siderably and carried the net-among Sydney's social set industry has certainly not being a woman did. ily-owned fleet of more than all sorts of regulatory restric- work's branding," she says. - so her career switch, into gone unnoticed. "I'll never forget the day he a dozen taxis, believes the in- tions to make life harder for Several years ago, the intro-the blokey, rough and ready "Roula is a very active mem- called me, while I was still dustry has been through its taxi operators, then issuing duction of mandatory 'braille' taxi industry, was destined to ber of the taxi industry in a working in magazines," Roula worst and is cautiously opti- its own, government-owned notices in taxis, in the form of shock. highly competitive environ- explains. "He said to me: Tm mistic about what lies ahead. taxi licences to compete with raised lettering was exposed Across the nation, the in- ment and is an example of a leaving for Greece for three "It's not hard to work out us and further squeeze us: through the major media out-

dustry is in turmoil, with dis- businesswoman working hard months tomorrow. Come and I'm no fan of Uber, which Roula says there's a very lets. ruptive technologies making to achieve success," NSW Taxi take over. You can either sink shouldn't be getting a free good reason why the public The taxi networks in NSW an aggressive entry into the Council CEO Roy Wakelin- or swim - it's up to you.' kick in point to point trans- often perceives taxi drivers to had to install security cam-point to point transport sec- King told Neos Kosmos. "That's the way my father port at the expense of taxi be reckless on the road. eras, point of sale terminals tor, led by global 'ride shar- "It's a challenging time for was - nothing ever came to operators who are lumbered "It's because they're not held and radios and meter, from ing' giant, Uber. taxi owners and operators him without hard work, sweat with considerable up-front accountable. My third party which they generate revenue So far the smartphone app- around Australia, but that and determination - and he and ongoing compliance property insurance (green from every transaction.

based enterprise has been only reinforces the impor- thought that was the best costs," she says. slip) recently went up ~n.ooo Another thought bubble was given the green light in NSW, tance of strong business prac- way to also prepare me and "But there's a saying: 'From to around ~~8,000 per taxi and the introduction of security WA and the ACT, with Tasma- tices and innovating within my sister for the real world." adversity comes opportunity.' there's a ~~1.000 excess in the screens which had to be in-nia likely to be next to regu- the law to ensure the ongo- Roula took the challenge "The war with Uber has de- event of an accident. stalled and later uninstalled late it. But everywhere else ing viability of taxi services." with both hands - she swam. livered a golden opportuni- "But under NSW law, if one at the expense of taxi opera-in Australia, 'ride sharing' He said the council was And while she admits that ty that otherwise probably of my taxis is in an accident, tors. remains outlawed. "proud to have Roula as a it seemed a 'mission impos- would never have come - get- I'm unable to claim the excess "The non-mandatory affilia-Even before the Uber shake- member and recognises her s ible' at the time, she was ting the NSW government to from the driver. tion with taxi networks is cur-

up, a mountain of issues was ongoing contributions to our resourceful and called other review and undo its ridicu- "Meanwhile, that vehicle is rently proposed as part of the preventing a prosperous out- industry". taxi operators close to her lous regulatory regime, one out of action while it gets re- NSW reforms," the NSW Taxi look for v;irious t;ixi l'!ntP.r- But thP. tr;insition into thP. filthP.r, ;iskP.d thP.m ;is m;iny WP. havP. to put up with P.;ic:h p;iirP.d ;ind t·hP. drivP.r c:;m thP.n l.011 nc:i I. prises across the nation. cut-throat, high-pressure questions as they could han- and every day." go and drive for another op- "Networks are also under

In every state, there's a suf- world of taxi fleet manage- dle and eventually, put her The standout issue with le- erator with impunity. Where's significant pressure due to focating regulatory regime. ment, with its exhaustingly stamp on the family business. galisation of Uber with mini- the fairness in that?" the reforms and face viabil-often to the advantage of long days, round-the-clock Despite often exhausting mal regulatory impediments A spokesman for the NSW ity challenges of their own." vested interests of one indus- weekends and on-call exist- days, Roula keeps a packed is that it is being carried out Taxi Council said in relation Roula also cited technologi-try stakeholder at the expense ence, came in tragic circum- schedule with her other pas- by the same governments to operators recovering ex- cal innovation as an area in of another. stances. sions, which often revolve who happily once accepted cess costs from drivers, "the which the industry had been Throw into NSW's tangle Roula's family was left dev- around her pride in her Greek hundreds of thousands of dol- current laws are being re- lagging behind its competi-

of red tape and testosterone astated when her father An- culture. "It's an ideal form of lars in fees for a licence from viewed". ti on. a determined, capable and gelo died after a stroke in late escapism for me. It keeps operators. Roula said another archaic The Australian Consumer passionate Greek Australian 2014, leaving her and sister things in balance and also Those operators have large- rule was mandatory affilia- and Competition Com1nission woman and things start to get Theony to take over the fam- keeps me sane by allowing ly suffered in silence, ham- tion with a taxi network, in- (ACCC) held up the introduc-interesting. ily business, a fleet of taxis me to do something I really strung by ongoing regulato- eluding monthly fees for ra- tion of a new universal taxi "When I tell people what I and commercial and residen- enjoy," she explains. ry changes that have reduced dio access, decreasingly rel- booking app, 'ihail', amaz-

do, they usually laugh or as- tial property investments. The former drama student flexibility in the way they can evant in an environment of ingly - given the illegalities sume I'm making things up," She said her father, in his is host of the 'Glitz and Goss' commercially operate their technological innovation. involving Uber-X drivers - cit-Roula says. peculiar way - which often segment on Meraki TV and taxi licence asset and have "The network and govern- ing concerns over its unfair "It doesn't really bother me, involved "tough love" - had was also a host on now-de- added significant costs. ment would occasionally competitive advantage and

it's to be expected I guess. already prepared her for the funct Optus subscription "If I'm going to be honest cook up hare-brained ideas lack of competition in its pay-There will always be an un- switch from a high-flying channel GA-TV and, as one of about it, I'd have to say the around how to extract more ment processing functions.

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