American Expatriate Costa Rica

Government suspends decision to regulate Uber

Luis Guillermo Solís announced that his government will not take any decision on Uber until the Constitutional Court and the Contentious Court did not resolve several actions proposed to remove the existing monopoly on Taxis Act. That would allow to open competition.

Indeed, the delayed decision is one of the annoyances that drove the recent taxi drivers’ formal protest. They claim it is urgent that the judges resolve the matter as soon as possible.

Uber, which began operations in August 2015, created a revolution in the private transport of people and its repercussions are still difficult to estimate.

The president explained that

the regulations would indicate that Uber cannot operate,”

which is why they cannot take the baton for its regulation.

Gilbert Ureña, representative of the National Taxi Drivers Forum, said they are not happy, so they will not yield to the “lack of response from the Constitutional Court.”

While the discussion is stirred, Cabify -Spanish app- announced that it intends to operate in the country in the coming months. However, they approach governments before starting operations.

Although there is no official data, to this date Uber allegedly has more than 5,000 drivers operating in Costa Rican territory.

The Constitutional Court stated that resolving these issues may take up to 15 months.

crhoy.com