Uber monopoly worries Wozniak

Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak says he's concerned about how much Uber pays its drivers and that the company could become a monopoly.

"Woz" says he wishes there were four or five alternatives to Uber, and that a monopoly would allow the ride-sharing company to "push their workforce down to the absolute lowest minimum wage that they can get away with".

"Their drivers don't really realise necessarily at first that they aren't making much money and may be losing money on the wear and tear of their cars," he said in Sydney on Monday.

"It is a danger when any group becomes a very powerful monopoly because they can take advantage and use it in bad ways."

Uber is officially illegal in several Australian states and has faced considerable opposition from the taxi industry.

Some states have legalised the service with conditions, but Mr Wozniak says further regulation to ensure competition may be also needed as Uber becomes more widespread.

"You can argue we don't essentially need Uber at the moment ... but eventually it could get to that point," he said.

"I think regulation is needed in those cases or (organic) competition.

"If it's not a monopoly or oligopoly, that solves the problem".

Uber says it's surprised by the comments and Wozniak made positive comments about the sharing economy in his presentation to the Future Transport Summit earlier in the day.

"Ride-sharing is growing in popularity across Australia, with millions of riders and more than 20,000 drivers enjoying the benefits of the service," a spokesperson said.

"Since we launched UberX, we have seen a number of competitors arrive on the scene, something that can only be good for consumers."