QCOSTARICA – With seven years under its belt in Costa Rica, and with no legal status, Uber has been helping people get to where they need to be.
For its seventh anniversary in the country, Uber once again calls on the government to generate the platform’s regulation policies, in order to be up to date on the legal issue.
“We are happy to celebrate seven years in Costa Rica. It has been a great journey thanks to the support of collaborating partners and users in the country, despite the continuous legal instability due to the lack of regulation,” said Miriam Manrique, general manager of Uber in Costa Rica.
The ride app company affirms that in 155 jurisdictions in the world they have already achieved a regulation that gives peace of mind to both the driving partners and the users. Yet, in Costa Rica, unregulation continues for Uber’s some 1 million users and 28,000 partner drivers.
And for this reason, the company is calling on the government of Rodrigo Chaves for regulations and end the battle on the roads with traffic authorities.
“At Uber we want to have a modern regulation, whose main benefit will be to provide the expected legal stability to more than 28,000 collaborating partners who generate profits every day through the app on the streets of Costa Rica,” said Manrique.
Maringue added that regulation will also provide the company greater certainty for its future operations to continue to invest in the country.
“We trust that, as the authorities have indicated, progress can soon be made in this discussion, together with legislators,” said Manrique.
According to the company, in these seven years, they have invested US$180 million in the country, becoming a socio-economic engine and contributing some US$21 million dollars in taxes, which includes income and Value Added Tax (VAT).
“Since the app is available in the country, more than 200,000 independent work opportunities have been generated, which means more income opportunities for Ticos,” said Uber’s general manager.
Read more: Uber almost legal in Costa Rica?
Earlier this month, the Minister of Transportation, Luis Amador, indicated that in the coming months, perhaps in the first week of September, a legislative bill would be ready to be sent to the Legislative Assembly to regulate transport platforms.
Uber’s story in Costa Rica
The company arrived in 2015 providing service mainly in the greater metropolitan area of San Jose (GAM).
In 2019 it inaugurated the Center of Excellence in Heredia, one of the largest in the world, with which it has generated employment for more than 400 Costa Ricans who attend millions of queries from users throughout Latin America.
Since 2021, Uber has been available in the seven provinces.
