
Colombia fines Uber more than $629k for obstructing regulatory visit - SolaceQuantum
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-uber-colombia/colombia-fines-uber-more-than-629000-for-obstructing-regulatory-visit-idUSKCN1V21RO
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danielpal
Although most people will read this and think, oh more shenanigans from UBER,
the reality is (and as a Colombian I know), that the government has failed for
years to regulate this industry, which is regarded by all consumers as
incredibly positive, and continuously has fought against this platforms in an
effort to keep the taxi mafia content.

Yet, taxis in Colombia are incredibly dangerous. As a passenger you are
exposed to express kidnappings, drivers that are aggressive, adultered fares
systems and drive unsafely in cars that don't meet any security guidelines (a
large number of passengers have died on rear-collisions given that the most
common Bogota taxi has no rear-reinforcement). For decades the taxi mafia's
have provided an unsafe & horrible service, when Uber & other platforms
arrived, users flocked, yet by means of aggressive protests where they pretty
much block the city, the taxi's have forced some parts of the government to
try to curve Uber.

Uber however has fought to continue providing the service that the consumers
demand, and has otherwise tried to complied with every law. This fine comes
from the industry of commerce regulators, who have tried to convince the
technology ministry to shut Uber down, with them refusing. I hope Uber
continues to operate in Colombia and use their legal means to fight this
regulators who are not operating from a consumer benefit standpoint, but
rather a political fight to protect a mafia that needs to be dismantled.

~~~
forinti
The one thing that I found positive about Colombian taxis is that they are
very cheap. In this regard, I don't see how Uber could compete.

On the other hand, the cars are falling to bits and the drivers are rather
aggressive (although it seemed to me that drivers were careless in general).

~~~
sblawrie
Uber rides are incredibly cheap in Colombia, too. A 20 minute uberX ride
across Medellin probably costs around $4.

~~~
gingabriska
How do they pay for gas? Is it subsidized or something?

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elliekelly
When I was in Colombia every time I took an Uber the driver asked me to sit in
the front seat. I thought it was a bit odd but figured it was a local thing.
It wasn’t until my way to the airport that my last Uber driver told me the app
was illegal in the country so they ask passengers to sit up front to look like
they’re just driving a friend.

It really ticked me off that Uber let me open the app and order a car, knowing
full well I would be breaking the law, and gave me no warning or indication of
the risk I would be taking whatsoever. As a young woman with only the most
basic of Spanish skills traveling alone, breaking Colombian law isn’t a risk I
would have been willing to take.

~~~
0xfffafaCrash
I don't believe there are laws against taking it in Colombia. The law seems to
be against driving one and the consequence for the driver is getting the car
confiscated and having to pay a fine and losing their license if caught
multiple times. Uber is liable for providing the platform for this
unauthorized service.

Uber isn't the only black market ride-hailing app that's been competing at
scale in Colombia either. There's also Didi Chuxing and some others. However,
I don't understand how the legal department in a company like Uber permits
such a brazen disregard of local laws. Yes, this is a case of regulatory
capture and there is hardly any subtlety in the way the Transportation
Minister has worked to maintain a monopoly on legal taxi services for Taxis
Libres, but I don't understand how you just ignore the fact that your service
in entire countries is illegal when you are a large multinational publicly
traded company.

~~~
londons_explore
US tech firms are often happy to ignore local laws because they kinda have the
backing of the US government, and they also have the option of just
withdrawing from the country.

For example, most US firms abroad give their receptionists a button to press
when a police raid is happening. Pressing the button triggers all computers to
lock and credentials of all local employees to be disabled, and someone from
the US is needed to unlock them. The whole thing is to prevent local police
raids getting anything except whatever legal decides they can have.

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romaaeterna
> The country has not specifically regulated transport services like Uber, but
> has said it will suspend for 25 years the licenses of drivers caught working
> for the platform.

> The fine from the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce says Uber urges
> employees not to give information to regulators and to block access to
> company computers.

Call me crazy, but I wonder if they were trying to get a list of drivers, for
the purposes of pulling licenses.

~~~
toomuchtodo
Probably just as easy to have a team in Colombia (edit: typo corrected)
request Uber rides and have regulators pull licenses on the spot of whomever
shows up.

~~~
freehunter
They did that in Madison WI when Uber first showed up. The police would call
an Uber, complete a trip, and issue them a citation when the trip was
complete.

~~~
blowski
Is that related to the software that detected whether a user worked for a
government agency?

~~~
toomuchtodo
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greyball](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greyball)

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DuskStar
> The country has not specifically regulated transport services like Uber, but
> has said it will suspend for 25 years the licenses of drivers caught working
> for the platform.

I really wish things defaulted to "legal if not specifically prohibited", not
"illegal unless specifically allowed" like this implies. (probably just a case
of overly broad taxi legislation, though)

~~~
inetknght
Why?

~~~
SkyBelow
Because doing something new shouldn't be illegal by default.

~~~
quirkot
_stares at camera in zombie-apocalypse virus_

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maximente
for those outside Colombia: there are periodic taxi strikes, some severe and
lasting for hours (blocking important highways that everyone uses etc.), so
for those wondering about the small fine or whatever, it could just be to
placate taxi drivers in order reduce the frequency of striking across the
country

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013a
I've always wondered in situations like this: Is this a fine uber will
actually pay? Does the US have any treaties with Colombia which put teeth in
this fine inside US jurisdiction? Or would they pay it simply out of a desire
to, possibly, one day, operate legally in the country and not want to start
out on the wrong foot?

And more specifically, the three people who were fined directly; are they
really going to get out their checkbooks (or would Uber just cover it)?

I've always wondered this; you hear about these multi-billion dollar fines
Google/Facebook get from the EU, and obviously they want to continue doing
legal business there, plus the EU is a great friend of the US, so they pay
them. But with smaller countries that are, traditionally, not on a great
political footing with the first world, what do businesses do? Especially in
this case where they are operating illegally anyway? Pay up? Throw the letter
in the trash and laugh over an $800 bottle of bourbon like a supervillain?

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bogwog
> The fine also cites three Uber staffers by name, individually fining them
> between $1,469 and $7,344.

Those numbers are so specific that it seems like they're the actual fines. At
that point why even omit the third one?

~~~
laken
In COP (Colombian Pesos) those are roughly $5,000,000COP and $25,000,000COP,
so it makes more sense when in its original currencies.

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deuslovult
So, Colombia fines Uber <nothing>.

~~~
Ensorceled
Exactly. Uber lost $5.24bn last quarter. With this new fine that loss would
have been ... $5.24bn because I'm sure that's rounded anyway.

~~~
doersino
Yup. Around 15 minutes' worth of losses.

~~~
teknopaul
Bet they wont pay it tho.

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whoevercares
629k? A rounding error in their tax report

