On May 26, 2026, Chhuon Voun, Director-General of the General Department of Land Transport, clarified that WOWNOW must stop using company-owned vehicles to transport passengers through its app. In simple terms, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MPWT) is strengthening existing regulations by prohibiting WOWNOW from providing EV cars to drivers for ride-hailing services.
The decision came after a meeting between the minister and transportation companies. Its stated aim was to protect workers in the informal transport sector, especially tuk-tuk and taxi drivers who may be affected by platform-based competition.
However, the decision also creates a policy dilemma. While it may help existing tuk-tuk and taxi drivers, it has also directly affected WOWNOW drivers who rely on the company’s app and EV leasing model for their daily income.
By the afternoon, the issue had turned into a labour dispute. Fifteen representatives of WOWNOW delivery and transport drivers, representing around 900 drivers in total, met officials from the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training to raise their concerns. According to the ministry spokesperson, the drivers requested that WOWNOW reactivate their driver accounts and resume leasing electric vehicles to partner drivers so they could continue earning a living.
This shows that the core of the dispute is not only about transport regulation. It is also about the vulnerability of gig workers. Drivers who depend on a platform can lose their income almost immediately when a company changes its operations or when a regulatory decision affects the business model.
For the past few years, WOWNOW appears to have operated in a grey area. Its model may have fitted the logic of the free market, but it also sat within a legal space that was open to interpretation. MPWT’s latest decision may be correct from a regulatory point of view, but it has produced new social and economic consequences.
The ministry is trying to protect informal transport workers. Yet at the same time, the decision limits consumer choice and affects around 900 WOWNOW drivers. For many users, WOWNOW’s taxi service is sometimes priced similarly to tuk-tuks. With promotions, it can even be cheaper, while also offering air-conditioning and better comfort.
There is also a deeper policy contradiction. Cambodia is actively promoting green energy and EV adoption in the transport sector. But many individual drivers cannot afford to buy EVs by themselves. Leasing through a company may be one of the few practical ways for low-income drivers to enter the EV transport market without taking on a large financial risk.
Therefore, banning WOWNOW’s EV leasing model may protect existing tuk-tuk drivers in the short term, but it could also slow down Cambodia’s transition toward cleaner and more modern urban transport. It may keep some workers in their current comfort zone, but it also reduces pressure on transport companies to upgrade their vehicles and adopt EVs.
The WOWNOW case is therefore not just a simple dispute between a company, drivers, and regulators. It reflects a bigger challenge: how Cambodia can protect existing workers without blocking innovation, consumer choice, and the country’s green transport ambitions. A better solution may not be to stop the model entirely, but to regulate it more clearly, ensuring fair competition, driver protection, safety standards, and a gradual transition toward EV-based transport.