WESTERN Australia’s 1035 taxi plate owners will each receive about $20,000 in compensation, following a State Government decision to legalise ride-sharing services such as Uber.

Government sources said today the so-called ‘transition allowance’ will also allow taxi plate owners to apply for financial help as part of a multi-million dollar hardship fund.

But the $20,000 payment is unlikely to appease plate owners who paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for their businesses.

They will now have to compete with Uber, and other private operators, for the taxi dollar — in tough economic times.

To soften the blow, Transport Minister Dean Nalder will argue that competitive taxi services will still survive in this market.

So-called ‘taxi rank and hail work’ will only be done by traditional taxis.

Sources said the WA Government’s compensation package will be similar to that of New South Wales where that administration put into place a compensation package which included payments of $20,000 to owners of taxi licence plates.

As reported in The Sunday Times earlier this month, on-demand transport drivers could face an annual license fee of about $500.

Uber told The Sunday Times it would be virtually impossible for it to bring its car pooling service to Perth with the license fee in place

In NSW, the one-off payment would be capped at a maximum of $40,000 for owners of multiple plates.

Mr Nalder said in December that the reforms would create a more level playing field for WA’s taxi industry, with “increased accountability, competition and service quality from all transport providers and safer, more reliable and affordable service for customers”.

Mr Nalder is set to release new taxi reform rules on Thursday. Regulatory changes come into effect on July 1.