Uber has urged users in New South Wales to complain to the state’s transport minister about the introduction of a $1 tax on the company which comes into force on Thursday and is likely to be passed on to customers.

The tax applies to each trip taken in taxis, hire cars and ride-sharing services such as Uber across most of the state, and will go towards a $250m compensation package for the taxi industry.

It will be charged from 1 February and will remain in place for up to five years.

Uber wrote to customers in NSW on Tuesday reminding them about the tax, and urging them to complain to the state government.

“If you think this tax is unfair, make sure your voice is heard and contact the NSW transport minister,” the ride-sharing company wrote in an email.

The government announced the tax after it legalised Uber in 2015, as part of an “industry adjustment package” for the taxi industry. NSW was the second jurisdiction in Australia to do so after the ACT.

In a statement, a spokesman for Uber said the reforms amounted to a bailout that it said the taxi industry did not need. Since the levy was planned in 2015, taxi licence values had increased and demand for taxis had remained stable, it said.

“The reforms have grown the pie for the whole industry and demand for taxis has remained stable and licence values have rebounded,” the spokesman said.

“We are puzzled as to why the NSW government is still taxing the travelling public to give the taxi industry a bailout that the data shows they don’t need.”

But the transport minister, Andrew Constance, defended the tax, which he called a “charge on operators”.

“The $1 levy is a temporary measure and it is disappointing to see companies like Uber, who are the main beneficiaries of the reforms to the point to point industry, campaign against fair assistance for people who have invested in taxi plates,” he said.

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