Uber To Leave Colombia Following Regulatory Ruling

Farai Mudzingwa

From February 1, Uber will no longer operate in Colombia after losing a case brought against it by taxi drivers who were alleging the company has unfair business practices.

This will come as a big blow to the tech company which had around two million active users and 88 000 drivers in the country. Uber was deemed to benefitting from unfair competition since they weren’t regulated requiring them to pay the same fees to which traditional cabs are subject.

It seems there was a legal loophole allowing the tech company to operate as it had permission from the Ministry of ICT but its use of drivers to transport passengers was deemed illegal.

According to France24, this loophole meant the company could pay taxes and was authorized to advertise in Colombia but

In accordance with the surprising verdict … from last December 20, from midnight on February 1, 2020, Uber will cease to work in Colombia

Uber statement

5 comments

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  1. The Principal

    The future looks bleak for Uber. The disruptive nature of technology may have it’s downsides. Change is difficult. Businesses don’t operate in a vacuum, there are gvt regulations to abide by. Most of these tech based solutions end up dying natural deaths, as gvts want to maintain the status quo.
    Even the first mobile car faced fierce resistance: we have enough horses, someone argued!
    .

    Reply
    1. Farai Mudzingwa

      In the case of Uber I do think some of the regulatory push back is warranted.

      • Drivers make peanuts because Uber refuses to acknowledge them as employees
      •In many countries taxi drivers take tests and practice for hours before being allowed to carry passengers. Uber drivers download an app and hit the road.

      Regulation gets a bad reputation because people feel like it stops progress but sometimes it is very necessary.

      Another example of this could be Facebook. They weren’t regulated and they’ve had their way with so many individuals data to the point where everyone is calling for some form of regulation

      Reply
      1. Mpumelelo Msimanga

        Why then did 88 thousand drivers sign up? Uber is optional, if get a job tomorrow you can dump Uber without serving notice. My own observation has been that this Uber pays poorly argument largly comes out of well off countries, to be specific the US. Uber gives determined drivers in SA a way to make a decent living. I presume Colombia being a developing country would similar.

        Reply
        1. Farai Mudzingwa

          True, it could be the case that it provides drivers in Colombia a “decent living” but the regulators who live in Colombia certainly don’t seem to think so

          Reply
      2. Critical Thinking 101

        True insight you have here.

        Reply

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