Jamaica Observer | Wednesday, July 28, 2021

The Government isn’t giving any special regulatory treatment to Uber operators, as individuals participating in the ride-sharing service do not have to indicate on their road licence applications what group or organisation they are affiliated with.

This means it is not known how many people have registered for road licences specifically to operate with Uber since the US-based service was launched here mid-June.

Corporate communications manager at the Transport Authority of Jamaica Petra Keane Williams explained Monday that all players in the transport sector fall under the same regulatory regime, and are asked to meet the same basic requirements for licensing. She stressed that there is no requirement for any operator to specify their transport group on applications, and this extends to those who will be using their vehicles to provide Uber services.

“We don’t need that information to regulate and monitor. The information we need is to see whether or not the person is operating with a road licence, and that’s what we do for all persons in the sector. I find that we are making Uber to be a special case when we are using the same procedures across the board for all operators,” Williams told the Jamaica Observer.

“The taxi companies that exist, they are not required to register with the authority. They can take persons from the pool of licensed operators to provide their service,” she said, noting that only route taxis and contract operators who work in the tourism sector need special permits, which are easier for them to obtain through their associations.

The Parliamentary Opposition has been calling for Uber operations here to be regulated, arguing that it has an unfair advantage over local operators in the market. Recently, Opposition spokesman on transport Mikael Phillips urged the Government to establish a regulatory regime for ride-sharing services from the US-based company.

He said if this wasn’t done quickly, the country could see a situation where those who now operate in a highly regulated regime could turn in those licences in favour of providing services under Uber.

But yesterday, Williams argued: “We tend to make it seem like it [Uber] is a special case and the authority is treating with it in a particular way, but this is the landscape of public transportation so if something is wrong, it can’t just be wrong for Uber, it must be wrong for everybody else.”

The ride-sharing service is now available in Kingston and St Catherine, allowing Jamaicans to sign up to become drivers or to request rides within the parishes. The Uber app is available in more than 10,000 cities in 69 countries.