Ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft made it clear Thursday they are willing to cover the cost of insuring their drivers in Winnipeg — as long Manitoba Public Insurance frees up those drivers from indicating when they're on the road in advance.

Today is the first day when ride-hailing companies are allowed to compete with cabs in the Manitoba capital. Two Alberta-based companies, TappCar and Cowboy Taxi, intend to begin picking up passengers on Friday.​

U.S.-based Uber and Lyft, the two largest players in the North American ride-hailing industry, have no intention of following suit as long as Manitoba Public Insurance requires drivers to top up their personal vehicle insurance.

Manitoba Crown Services Minister Cliff Cullen said this week MPI cannot allow taxi drivers to subsidize insurance for ride-hailing company drivers.

In separate interviews in Winnipeg, Lyft spokesperson Chelsea Harrison and Uber spokesperson Chris Schafer said their respective companies are more than willing to pay the tab directly to MPI, provided the public insurance provider eliminates requirements for drivers to indicate in advance when they intend to drive.

Harrison and Schafer say their companies' business models are based on giving their drivers the flexibility to hit a button and go to work when the demand presents itself.

"The cost is not the issue," Schafer said, indicating Uber intends to hold additional meetings with MPI officials in an effort to persuade them to change their insurance product offerings.

Harrison says Lyft plans to do the same.

"We have been very clear that the current insurance framework doesn't allow the flexibility that allows true ride-sharing to operate in the city," Harrison said.

Both firms say their payments to insurance providers in other provinces are sufficient to cover the insurance needs of their drivers.

MPI plans to review its insurance products for the ride-hailing industry in June.

TappCar, which plans to have about 50 drivers on the road on Friday, says it is subsidizing the personal vehicle insurance top-ups for its drivers as a means of enticing them to work for the firm.

The company says the subsidy works out to an average of $200 per driver. It has encouraged all of them to apply for insurance for all of MPI's time bands so drivers won't having to choose when they intend to work ahead of time.