Colombia to close Uber immediately

The Uber platform will have to suspend its activities in Colombia due to unfair competition and irregularly provision of service  the i

The Superintendence of Industry and Commerce ordered that the company cease “immediately (…) the acts of unfair competition declared and that they are executed using the ‘Uber’ application”.

It also ordered “that the use of content, access and provision of the individual passenger transport service be stopped immediately.”

The “effects (of the measure) are immediately fulfilled,” he added.

The determination, first instance and subject to appeal, was notified following a demand by taxi drivers against Uber, which they accuse of rendering their service irregularly in violation of the rules governing the market, and of “diversion of the clientele.”

The operation of Uber as a digital application was allowed by the Ministry of Information Technology and Communications, although the provision of the vehicle transport service with driver (VTC) is illegal.

The company had questioned the gap in regularization. Uber pays the VAT tax and is authorized to advertise in the media, but the police can sanction their drivers.

The US firm has more than 88,000 drivers in several cities in Colombia and ensures that it mobilizes two million users per month.

Uber arrived in Colombia in 2013 and since then other applications with similar services have been added, due to the rejection of driver unions and taxi owners, who have repeatedly protested in the streets against their competitors.

The protests have spread in other cities of the world where the pressure has even achieved the withdrawal of these applications.

For example, Uber does not operate in Catalonia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Denmark, and northern Australia.