Uber Launches Service With Taxi Drivers in Colombia

Ride-hailing app Uber will supply entry to its platform to common taxi drivers in Colombia, it mentioned on Wednesday, replicating a transfer it has already rolled out in different nations in Latin America and Europe since final yr.

Uber has launched Uber Taxi in an alliance with TaxExpress, a service that can be initially provided in Colombia’s capital Bogota and third-largest metropolis Cali.

As in different nations, Uber has confronted critical challenges in Colombia amid accusations of unfair competitors, which resulted in authorities ordering the corporate to halt operations in 2019, a choice which was overturned by a courtroom final yr.

Colombia lacks clear regulation for ride-hailing apps. While different corporations equivalent to Didi and Cabify function within the nation, drivers have confronted fines and different sanctions for offering ride-hailing companies, in addition to aggression from taxi drivers.

“Having taxis on the platform is a show of reconciliation … it offers different alternatives for users,” Marcela Torres, Uber’s basic supervisor in Colombia, mentioned throughout a digital press convention.

Uber Taxi has operated in Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and Spain since final yr, representing a change of drugs for the corporate amid regulatory challenges.

The firm reported an adjusted $509 million (roughly Rs. 3,780 crores) second-quarter loss earlier than curiosity, taxes, depreciation and amortisation – which excludes one-time prices, together with stock-based compensation – widening losses by almost $150 million (roughly Rs. 1,110 crores) from the primary quarter.

“In Colombia we are living through changes and searching for alternatives with former competitors is a part of that,” TaxExpress basic supervisor Jose Hernandez mentioned.

© Thomson Reuters 2021