City councillor Riley Brockington said the city isn't doing enough to collect data on complaints against Uber drivers in the capital.
The city's community and protective services committee heard Thursday that Uber drivers logged 1.4-million trips in the first three months since the service became legal at the end of September - that's an average of 15,000 trips a day.
But city officials say there's no way for them to find out whether the public has any complaints about the service, other than Uber's own rating system.
Brockington noted council decided not to have Uber drivers install cameras in their vehicles - as taxis are forced to do - but would review the situation in a year.
"We're at the three-month mark now and we seem to be at a roadblock because you're saying, 'We're going to have Uber self-regulate, we're not going to have the statistics about what issues exist,'" Brockington said.
"We need to have a better understanding of issues that happen in the car -- we need statistics, we need to be able to make decisions based on evidence."
Bylaw officials will look for ways to collect the necessary data, but admit privacy issues may get in the way.
Meanwhile, taxi drivers say their business has been devastated in the four months since a city by-law made Uber legal in Ottawa.
Local 1688 taxi union representative Tony Hajjar told the committee that Uber drivers are taking fares from taxi stands and hails from the street.
"It's getting so tough on the taxi industry right now, we have too many people who can't even afford to pay their insurance," Hajjar said.
Hajjar has also heard the federal government is recommending its employees take Uber instead of taxis because it's cheaper, but noted that if the government removed the HST on taxi fares they would probably be less expensive.
City officials will look into the taxi drivers' complaints, but noted there has been a high level of compliance from drivers in the first four months since the bylaw change.
Meantime, there may be more competition on the way for Uber.
City officials are currently working on an application from another 'Private Transportation Company' and have expressions of interest from four more.
The exact type of service they'd be offering has not yet been revealed.