Costa Rica taxi drivers demand crackdown on Uber in weekend protest

(Photo courtesy of CRHoy.com)

September 14th, 2015 (EFE) Taxi drivers staged a protest over the weekend to demand that the government crack down on Uber in Costa Rica, where the ride-sharing service was declared illegal by a transportation agency last week.

Taxi drivers dressed in white and carrying Costa Rican flags marched through the capital on Sunday to defend jobs that they contend are threatened by Uber.

Uber representatives should be “sued by the government or we’ll sue them,” National Taxi Drivers Association spokesman Gilberth Ureña told reporters, adding that the government should be the first to take legal action against the ride-sharing service.

The Public Transportation Council’s legal administration, a Public Works and Transportation Ministry agency, issued an order on Friday declaring that Uber, which has operated in Costa Rica for two weeks, was an illegal service.

The order said that “both Uber and any other domestic or foreign company must receive Public Transportation Council approval before launching paid transportation services for people via a mobile application.”

Uber representatives and government officials have met several times, but they have been unable to reach an agreement to let the ride-sharing service operate legally.