Uber says goodbye to Colombia

The Uber  platform in  Colombia will stop working from February 1, after receiving a ruling against unfair competition and irregular operation of the transport service.

“In compliance with the surprise ruling produced by the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce -SIC- on December 20, from 0:00 on February 1, 2020, Uber will cease to function in Colombia,” said a company release.

On its  Twitter account the  company published an illustration that shows a white car leaving the country and a calendar with the phrase “your Uber is leaving Colombia.”

“Bye … hopefully, see you soon. #UnaSolucionParaUberYa”, says the message that accompanies the graphic.

The authority that regulates trade accepted a demand from taxi drivers against Uber, which they accuse of rendering their service irregularly, violating the rules that govern the market. Under the ruling, the company had to suspend its activity and although it appealed, it decided to end its operations in the middle of the ongoing process.

A vacuum in the regulation, denounced by the company, allowed the company to pay the VAT tax and was authorized to advertise in the media, although the police could sanction their drivers.

On Friday, the Ministry of Transportation said in a statement that local regulations to provide public transport services require authorization and regularization by the State.

“It is forbidden to provide public transport service in a private vehicle,” it said.

The firm said that Congress must “make reforms” that provide for the “new phenomena of collaborative economy” and level the standards for all the actors involved.

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

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

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

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