The future of private-hire (ride-hailing) car services in Guadalajara such as Uber is up in the air as the state government and legislature weighs new regulatory measures governing the U.S.-based company and its clones.
Attorney General Eduardo Almaguer advised Tapatios not to use the service following the recent murder of Mara Castilla, a 19-year-old who was found strangled to death after she had taken a ride with Cabify in Puebla earlier this month. The driver was subsequently charged with her murder.
Meanwhile, Governor Aristoteles Sandoval has admitted that Uber is operating “without transparency” and that the company has become a “blind spot” for his administration that he intends to rectify.
The state government is demanding that Uber drivers register with authorities in exactly the same way that drivers of yellow cabs are obliged to do each year. According to Jalisco Government Secretary Roberto López Lara, Uber is the only one of the five Empresas de Redes de Transporte (ERT) app-based services operating in the city that has refused to adhere to state regulations requiring the registration of its drivers and the submission of extensive details about the size of fleets, insurance policies and other company matters.
Despite the cheap cost, speed and convenience to thousands of Tapatios, Almaguer urged users to take a “break” from Uber until it is properly regulated. He said three reports of alleged sexual abuse by drivers have been filed so far in 2017. In addition, he revealed that Uber drivers are sometimes “hired” to transport delinquents to and from their crime locations. Drivers are also the targets of criminals, he noted, and many have now resorted to carrying weapons of their own to combat assaults.
Uber says it employs strict requirements for contracting drivers and performs thorough background checks, although one driver who spoke to this newspaper commented that his hiring procedure was “perfunctory.”
Although the Jalisco Congress recently changed the Ley de Movilidad y Transporte (Transport Law) to incorporate the new app-based car hire model, some legislators want to impose further regulatory measures. Congressman Alejandro Hermosillo of the Citizens’ Movement (MC) is proposing obligatory modifications to Uber apps that allow passengers to confirm that their rides have been successfully completed, as well as noting any deviations to the route taken by the drivers. A panic button should also be featured in the app and systems installed in vehicles to monitor rides taken by women passengers, Hermosillo says.
The legislator’s plan would also see the creation of a “drivers’ roll” (Padrón Estatal de Choferes), tighten hiring requirements and include modifications to the state’s penal code to reflect any criminal conduct committed by these new operations.
The popularity of Uber in Guadalajara has exploded in the past few years, fueled largely by the under-35 population. As of June of this year, Uber employed 33,000 drivers, while 1.4 million people had downloaded the Uber app.
Uber’s battles with regulatory bodies are not exclusive to Guadalajara, however. Last week, London’s transportation authority declined to renew Uber’s operating license, citing the company’s approach to criminal offense reporting and driver background checks. Meanwhile, Uber says it will end its operation in the Canadian province of Quebec next month, following the announcement of tough new regulations.