Jalisco Governor Aristoteles Sandoval has sent an initiative to the state Congress that would provide a legal framework for popular app-based taxi services such as Uber to operate.
Unfortunately, no one seems particularly enthused about the proposed regulations.
The idea that authorities will set limits on the number of taxis working under the Uber model is discretionary and contradicts the governor’s pledge to permit free competition in the sector, noted Jose Eseverri, the Uber representative in Guadalajara.
Around 3,000 Uber taxis currently operate in the metro area, compared with 12,000 yellow cabs.
The proposed regulations would limit Uber, CityDrive and similar firms to operating solely in the Guadalajara metropolitan area for three years, after which time they may – or may not – be permitted to offer service in the provinces. The app-based companies would be obliged to pay a tax of 1.5 percent from each ride to support initiatives to improve pedestrian safety and other mobility issues, while drivers would pay an annual registration fee of 1,600 pesos.
All vehicles used for app-based rides would be required to have full liability insurance coverage and be no older than four years. The drivers would be prohibited from working out of “bases” or taxi stands (known as “sitios” in Spanish), and from receiving cash payments.
Uber cabs would also be forbidden from collecting or dropping off passengers in the vicinity of a sitio, as well as picking up passengers from the street without a prior request through a smartphone app.
This would maintain the monopoly of yellow cabs that operate out of the city airport, bus stations, Expo Guadalajara and four- and five-star hotels.
Sandoval stressed that the government will not try to regulate fares and allow the taxis to operate under a “supply and demand” model. “What we want is for users to be the beneficiaries,” he said.
Representatives of the city’s taxi union say the proposed regulations don’t go far enough and have announced another protest this Saturday.