Yes, but the taxi company does have some responsibilities such as making sure the drivers have licenses
Which means exactly what? They have fulfilled a bureaucratic check list of meaningless drivel?
Yeah, that is one of the "there ought to be a law" kind of crap laws that make noise signifying nothing.
Let me put it to you this way, would you know if you got into a taxi that the guy had three accidents last year or none? Rookie Driver or one that has been driving the town for seven years (and knows his way around)? What do you know exactly?
What you know, exactly, is that someone filled out a form somewhere, once upon a time. That is about all you really know, after that it is really a crap shoot. AT LEAST with Uber, you have all the information available, including "customer" reviews. Which is a hell of a lot more relevant.