Gov’t pledges framework for ride-hailing in months
Published:Wednesday | June 19, 2024 | 12:11 AMSashana Small/Staff Reporter
A commitment by Transport Minister Daryl Vaz to have regulations in place to guide ride-hailing operations in Jamaica by the next financial year has been met with scepticism by his opposition counterpart.
“I am not optimistic,” Opposition Spokesman on Transport Mikael Phillips told The Gleaner after the announcement on Tuesday. “What I find is that the minister speaks a lot without much action.”
At a press conference earlier, Vaz noted that creating the regulatory framework under which ride-hailing apps will operate is a priority for him as it is a means of addressing the safety and security concerns that he had raised earlier this month.
Vaz had initially floated a ban on the apps; however, issues surrounding the legality of such a move derailed the measure as at least one telecoms operator questioned the minister’s authority to order them to block the apps on their networks.
On Tuesday, he brushed aside critics who described his recommendation as a “knee-jerk reaction”.
“ ... It’s not that there are not powers that the minister of national security has, ... but this specific request does not have the supporting legislation,” he said. “There are powers accorded to the minister of national security, after consultation with the minister of telecommunications, to take certain actions in the interest of national security, and so it is not farfetched for us to assess existing provisions to ensure that they are more adequate to address the range of possible circumstances.”
STATED IN THE ACT ...
Section 56 of the Telecommunications Act states: “The minister responsible for national security may, where he is satisfied that it is necessary to do so in the interest of national security and after consultation with the minister, take control of or close down a licensee’s operations or any part thereof.”
Vaz did not indicate whether he had consulted with National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang before recommending the ban when quizzed by The Gleaner.
However, he said “nothing concrete” had been done to formulate regulations for ride-hailing apps since the matter was raised in 2021 after American firm Uber entered the Jamaican market.
“Definitively when I became minister last year May ... is when it started to move in terms of discussions and proposals,” he said.
He shared that his ministry met with Uber – one of the ride-hailing companies – a few months ago and those takes produced a comprehensive proposal, which has been used as a template.
“Such a framework will clarify the Government’s policy position on the inclusion of ride-hailing operations as a feature of public transportation in Jamaica, and will of necessity address issues such as fit and proper, status for operations, type of vehicles, licence category, requirement for appropriate liability insurance, and conformance to the Government’s approved fare structure, and strict adherence to measures mandated by the authorities to assure the safety of passengers and operators alike,” he said.
A meeting is to be held with inDrive on Thursday.
NO REGULATIONS
But Phillips believes the current situation could have been avoided “if the Government had listened earlier and had an interest in putting regulations in place”.
“We’re not against ride-sharing operations in Jamaica. We encourage it, but we believe, clearly, that it ought to happen in the ambit of the laws of Jamaica and the protection of the consumers themselves,” he said.
While the regulations are being formulated, Phillips said short-term measures should be implemented.
For starters, he suggested that all drivers should be issued with stickers for their vehicles once approved by the ride-sharing companies to operate on their apps and bring them under the current regime for public passenger vehicles in terms of ensuring insurance for passengers.
“And then we can perfect the legislation after,” Phillps said.
While expressing confidence in Vaz’s ability to implement the regulations, Egerton Newman, president of the Transport Operators Development Sustainable Services, told The Gleaner that one year is too long to have this matter ironed out.
“By the next financial year is a bit too long, way too long, and something must be put in place right now. You cannot have a foreign institution coming to Jamaica, carry passengers and not [be] regulated. What do we do between now and next year March?” he asked.