- Title: BRAZIL-UBER Uber continues services in Brazil after lawmakers vote to ban the app
- Date: 8th July 2015
- Summary: CLOSE-UP OF SABBA'S PHONE
- Embargoed: 23rd July 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Brazil
- Country: Brazil
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA403QXQ0MA99RKX0NS51RNQ7EU
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Uber has continued to function in Sao Paulo after lawmakers voted to ban the use of private cars registered with the mobile phone app in light of protests by local taxi drivers and the government's seizing of 23 vehicles since August.
Despite primary rounds of voting in Brazil's largest city and in the capital Brasilia which favoured the ban, the bills still require executive approval and official sanctioning by Sao Paulo Mayor Fernando Haddad.
The company said that its users have the right to chose how they move about the city and that innovation should not be constrained.
"We are currently waiting to see what happens. We are in constant contact with representatives of the legislature to further explain Uber's business model, how it works, because what we want is a form of regulation that allows innovation. We can't restrain innovation, we have to encourage it," Uber spokesperson, Fabio Sabba, told Reuters on Tuesday (July 8).
Uber distinguishes itself as a safe and streamlined service due to the technology which allows passengers to see the car, number plate and driver which will pick them up, whilst often offering amenities such as complimentary bottles of water.
"Uber works with the idea that the passenger is not cargo, he or she is a passenger, a person inside our vehicle who is important to us, who needs to be treated adequately, and who needs to be taken to the destination safely and comfortably," said Uber driver, Marcio Goncalves in Rio de Janeiro.
The service has received significant opposition from regular taxi drivers, whose profits they say have been damaged. Saying the service is illegal competition that undercuts prices, taxi drivers protested in April in various cities throughout Brazil.
Following the protests, Uber's downloads multiplied by five in Sao Paulo alone.
The president of the taxi-drivers' association Abracom, Edmilson Americano, said his organization wants to protect passengers by providing a service that follows taxi driver regulations.
"The regulation was done to protect citizens, to protect (taxi) users and it should continue this way. If you pick up a passenger and take them from one place to another and charge for this, this is remunerated transport, you can call it what you like but that is a taxi ride, and the service (Uber) should be banned in Brazil," said Americano.
According to Sao Paulo taxi driver Luis Fernando, the expansion of Uber's clientele has had a significant effect on income of drivers of regular taxis.
"We taxi drivers completely disapprove of Uber because it has really brought down demand for our services," said Fernando.
The situation has escalated and, on Saturday (July 4), an Uber driver was shot at by Rio de Janeiro cab drivers, according to one taxi driver who witnessed the attack.
Uber faces challenges elsewhere in Latin America. Its drivers will need permits to work in Mexico City and the company will have to pay into a transport fund, according to a draft government plan seen by Reuters, in what would be the first such regulation for the app in Latin America.
Uber will have to pay the government 1,599 pesos ($101) per year to license each vehicle on its platform and give about 1.5 percent of domestic revenue to a newly created city transport fund under the plan, an official close to the capital's Transport Secretary Rufino Leon, told Reuters on Tuesday (July 8).
There have been sporadic attacks against Uber drivers by Bogota's regular taxis, and Colombian authorities have deemed the company illegal, with police having impounded a number of cars offering services on its app. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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