QCOSTARICA – Uber Costa Rica is about to get competition. And this one may be a serious one, not like the threats by a grouping of official taxis.
No, the competition will be coming from Cabify, a Spanish company already operating in some 18 cities in Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Chile, and “very soon in Costa Rica”, according to a recent Facebook page post.
Cabify works very similar to Uber, with one major difference: customers have two payment options, by credit card or by way of Paypal. The latter allows users to pay without disclosing their credit card information.
Also, Cabify offers several types of vehicle choices, such as executive, lite or vans.
Cabify was founded in 2011 by Juan de Antonio, a Spanish entrepreneur who studied at Stanford University.
Uber and Cabify compete in various countries through transport services called “collaborative mobility”, ie, the companies do not actually own the vehicles, rather, are associated with the owners of the vehicles who provide the end-user service, from customers of the apps.
Uber started in Costa Rica in August 2015 without notice, without government permission and without any authorization.
The service (Uber) although declared illegal on September 15, 2015 by the Public Transport Council (CTP), a division of the Ministry of Transport, continues to operate in the country.
The app has generated controversy in the country, the official taxis adamant to stop them through protests and lobbying attempts.
They (the official taxis) have now threatened with the development of their own app to combat Uber.
Despite a decision by the Public Transport Council (CTP) on September 11, 2015 declaring the services offered by Uber partners in the country is “illegal”, since then neither the CTP or the Central Government has issued regulations or pronouncements on the legal status of the Uber service in the country.
