Five days after Uber's Hamilton launch, no charges have been issued, no complaints have been filed with the city and cab companies haven't experienced a change in demand.

Uber, which launched in Hamilton and three other Southwestern Ontario cities Thursday, is an app that allows users to hail rides from independent drivers.

Susie Heath, a representative from Uber, said the company would not provide the specific number of drivers it had recruited in Hamilton or the number of times Uber was used over the weekend.

Heath wrote in an email: "We have been thrilled with the response from the Hamilton riders and drivers who tried out Uber over the weekend," adding that since Thursday, there's been an increased number of users signing up to drive.

Dustin Jurkaulionis, who lives in Westcliffe, says he's taken Uber three times since it came to Hamilton. He hasn't waited more than 10 minutes for a ride, which he's been happy with. The lower fare was also appreciated.

"I don't think I'll ever take a cab again," he said.

Hamilton's taxi industry has been railing against Uber since it announced plans to expand into the city late last year.

Blue Line operates 250 taxis in the city, and Hamilton Cab operates 204.

Hamilton Cab's chair and CEO, Jagtar Singh Chahal, says that in the five days since Uber's launch, he hasn't noticed a change in demand — they had a busy weekend, he says.

Blue Line president Anthony Rizzuto says they had a busier-than-normal Saturday night.

But to compete with Uber going forward, Hamilton Cab is looking for cheaper insurance so it can lobby the city for lower regulated fares, Chahal says.

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Cheaper insurance would lower overhead costs associated with operating a licensed cab. Chahal says he hopes that would convince the city to change the fares.

Meanwhile, he says he's told his cabbies to focus on customer service, in an effort to retain customers despite having fares higher than Uber.

Hamilton Cab already has an app that allows people to order a taxi from their smartphones, and Blue Line is working on a "state-of-the-art" app that will manage dispatches as well as customer experience.

Rizzuto says they've been working on the app for eight months, and it isn't a direct response to Uber.

Chahal says he's has a meeting with the city's licensing department Tuesday.

Ken Leendertse, Hamilton's director of licensing, told The Spectator last week bylaw officers would charge any Uber driver they found.

In a brief email statement Monday, city representative Kelly Anderson wrote: "No charges have been laid, no complaints have been logged so far and the city has not had any more contact with Uber. That's the only update we have at this time."

She declined an interview request.

Representatives from Guelph, London and Waterloo Region, where Uber also launched Thursday, did not respond to questions about numbers of drivers charged in time for publication.