The app’s debut Uber in Bariloche It was chaotic, with protests by taxi drivers and bus drivers who blocked traffic at two high traffic points throughout the morning, a late announcement by the municipality to regulate the activity and the rebellion of the company that continues with its active operation.
Uber announced the landing in Bariloche a month ago and yesterday Finally, the Andean city became the 19th point where the application operates for the transfer of passengers, which does not have a regulated rate and whose price fluctuates at the rate of demand.
In the region, Uber tried to operate in Neuquén in 2017 and in 2021. But there, despite the fact that the application appears as operational in the city, when requesting a vehicle the system never responds with availability. At some point the inscription appeared “no cars available” and yesterday this newspaper was able to verify that when requesting a trip the time of “search for partners” is prolonged without giving an answera.
In Neuquén remember that the failed landing of the application was run by the strong resistance of the taxi drivers and many observed in Bariloche a replica of what happened previously in the capital of Neuquén and in other cities of the country.
In Bariloche, the mobilization of taxi drivers who at 8 o’clock blocked traffic on Avenida Luis Piedrabuena, at the height of the bus terminal, with an obvious anger that led them to burn tires, multiplied at mid-morning with another point of protest in front of the San Carlos sanatorium, at the beginning of Bustillo avenue.
finally to noon the taxi drivers lifted the measures of forceafter meeting with the mayor Gustavo Gennuso who promised to issue an immediate resolution in which he would clarify that “Uber is not authorized” while a regulatory ordinance project is being worked on.
However, the words of the mayor, who managed to calm the discomfort of the taxi drivers, did not lead to the cessation of the work of the drivers who joined the Uber platform to carry out the transfer of passengers.
Uber continues to operate: What does the company say?
“We have a commitment to people, both with the user and with the drivers who registered”, he clarified to BLACK RIVER Juan Lavaqui, Uber Communications Manager for the Southern Cone. He confirmed that the application “is on”, that is, it continued to be operational yesterday despite the mayor’s warnings of sanctions.
“Legality is not in question because it occurs in the national framework, there may be regulations at the local level that up to now in Bariloche do not exist”, indicated Lavaqui who said that the company is “available” to contribute its experience in regulation in other cities of the country such as Mendoza, which was implemented prior to the arrival of Uber, or in Corrientes, which after being in operation adjusted a regulation based especially on safety.
Uber did not want to reveal how many drivers the application has in Bariloche because “there is a growth rate” of drivers interested in joining.
The application continued to operate yesterday and the prices displayed for the trips were well below the regulated rates that taxis haves, through the values of lowering the flag and token every 100 meters traveled, and the remises that have a rate chart for mileage.
For example, an Uber trip from the center to the Bariloche airport cost around 2,500 pesos at noon when other authorized and regulated services charge double.
Taxi drivers and taxi drivers accuse Uber of “unfair competition” because its services are regulated both in the number of authorized vehicles and in prices, something that until now has a legal vacuum for applications.
Due to traffic cuts, prosecutors Martín Lozada and Guillermo ListThey showed up before noon at the traffic stop on Bustillo Avenue to ask that the measure of force be lifted and also to identify the protesters.
Gennuso warned sanctions
After a convulsed morning due to the demonstrations and discussions generated among taxi drivers, motorists and eventual users of the application, Gennuso announced that it would issue a resolution in the next few hours clarifying that applications of the type Uber are not authorized “for a not very long period of time, until the regulation ordinance is raised in which we are working”. He later estimated that this period would take between 30 and 45 days.
At press time, the resolution had not been published on the official website of the municipality or disseminated by the government.
The mayor explained that “it is better that one regulates the system” like Uber and work “so that they are contained. We are concerned that people have safe transportation and also the source of employment“, he claimed.
Gennuso insisted on “regulating, that everyone can be contained and that the neighbor has means of transportation” and thus ruled out the option of indefinite ban on the application that works in all parts of the world.
He also anticipated that he would instruct the Ministry of Transit and Transportation to “effectively penalize those who use the application with the fines that are in force.” These words generated uncertainty among municipal inspectors due to the complexity of controlling each car that circulates and detecting who operates with Uber.
The mayor promised to work on a rule “where everyone is satisfied.” He admitted that prior to the landing of Uber he met with the firm’s referents and described the conversations as “unpleasant” due to the company’s refusal to accept changes.
Also last month, the chief of staff, Marcela González Abdala, before a demonstration of taxi drivers against Uber, said that regulations were being analyzed in other parts of the country to analyze how to establish a regulatory framework, but the final text for the ordinance project did not arrive before the landing of the application became effective.
The support of deputy Domingo generated discomfort
The national deputy and candidate for mayor of Juntos Somos Río Negro, Agustín Domingo, in the midst of the protest, came out to support the landing of Uber in Bariloche because “it will decompress the overloaded” transport system of Bariloche and the competition will even “generate fairer values For the users”.
“I have been expressing it publicly for a long time, the arrival of this type of services for Bariloche is important,” said Domingo and opined that “taxi drivers, taxi drivers and drivers of these platforms can coexist perfectlyproviding services to both residents and tourists who visit us”.
The deputy said that the protests of the taxi drivers should not pass and limited: “The state must intervene by eliminating archaic regulations that prevent Barilochenses from working and transporting.”
The mayor Gustavo Gennuso was consulted by the press about Domingo’s support for the application, he did not want to delve into the subject, but He said he was “regretting” that political leaders “encourage these problems to come to Bariloche because what happened today is happening.”
He community chief demanded “more responsibility” to the leaders before the complexity of the subject.
Domingo is one of the referents that promoted the arrival of other transport systems in the city, understanding their need to increase the supply given the existing demand, which grows with tourism.
Taxi drivers with the support of the federation before “illegal applications”
The claim of the taxi drivers and remiseros of Bariloche yesterday had the support of the Board of Directors of the National Federation of Taxi Workers of the Argentine Republic, which through a press release repudiated the “inaction of the municipality” before the entry of “illegal applications that overwhelm national regulations”.
They listed a series of criticisms of Uber, pointing out that “they refuse to pay taxes and comply with laws and ordinances, justifying that this is their way of working throughout the world” and they also highlighted that the taxis comply with regulations “to give the user comfort, reliability and security, making available authorized cars, professional drivers and rates set by the municipality”.
The Federation offered its support to the taxi drivers of Bariloche and warned: “We will fight until we eradicate illegal applications and to those who intend to make spurious deals at the expense of the livelihood of our families”.
The taxi drivers mobilized yesterday in Bariloche did not want to talk to the press and accused the media of being complicit in the arrival of the application.
In a protest that they carried out on April 24, when they went en masse to the Civic Center, the taxi drivers raised a series of questions in defense of the labor sources in their sector and for the so-called “unfair competition” of this service that does not have quotas in licenses or rate regulated by the municipality so far.
From Uber they explained that the rate fluctuates according to demand and highlighted as a value that the user and the driver know before starting the trip how much it will cost. Regarding insurance, the application activates it once the driver confirms the trip and starts the journey to look for the passenger and it expires when the user gets out of the car.
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