A New South Wales government task force has been formed to examine the future of the state's taxi and ride-sharing services, like Uber.

It could lead to calls for proper licensing and regulation of the disruptive service that has caught the ire of taxi drivers around the world.

The independent task force will be headed by Professor Gary Sturgess assisted by Tom Parry, and is set to work with customers, the taxi industry, hire car companies, and other stakeholders to examine the impact of emerging technologies, the importance of customer safety, and the burden of current taxi regulations.

The NSW Government says it expects the group will come up with recommendations like an anti-gaming clause, designed to prevent manipulation of the licensing system.

But the review is not just an attack on Uber, it seems, as it has enough scope to look at transport services for people with disabilities and other groups who rely on community transport and taxis.

Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Andrew Constance says it will investigate the current state of the taxi industry.

“We also want to examine the sustainability of the industry in regional NSW, where operators are under increasing pressure from hire cars as well as from courtesy transport and community transport,” he said.

“If we want to see a strong future for the taxi industry and make services more attractive to customers, the next step is to look closely at current regulations to ensure there's a more even playing field.”

Uber has seen the writing on the wall and rushed to be actively involved in the review.

It issued a statement on the establishment of the task force, saying it is a “victory for competition, consumers, and choice”.

“The announcement is a recognition of the overwhelming popular support for ride sharing, and the need for outdated regulation to catch up with changing customer choices,” the company said.

On the federal level, Shadow Assistant Treasurer Andrew Leigh says the ALP supports sharing economy apps [http://www.andrewleigh.com/sharing_the_future ]such as Uber, but wants grey areas removed from relevant licensing and regulations.

“Labor wants to see Australians share the benefits of the sharing economy. But we also want to make sure we have the right rules in place to protect workers, consumers, and the public good as they do so,” he said.

The decision in NSW comes just days after violent protests broke out among disgruntled taxi drivers in France, especially over Uber’s cheapest service UberPOP, which is similar to the UberX service in Australia.