Uber resumed operations in Cancun, Mexico on Thursday, more than a year after the service was suspended in December 2017.
“Starting Thursday, June 6, Uber will restart its operations in Cancun offering more than 500,000 citizens of Cancun a reliable and accessible additional mobility option for their transfers at the touch of a button, Communication Manager for Uber Mexico, Saúl Crespo told Riviera Maya News.
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Late last year, a pair of federal judge rulings in the states of Jalisco and Yucatan declared Uber private and not regulated the same way as traditional taxis.
“Currently there is a ruling by a federal judge in which he ordered the Mobility Institute to allow Uber Mexico to operate and carry out its commercial activity in the State of Quintana Roo. Derived from the above, the company submitted its application for registration as ERT before the Mobility Institute, which has not been resolved,” Crespo confirmed.
The company said its current priority is providing locals and tourists in Cancun with access to the ride-sharing app while complying with regulatory requirements. “Our return is legitimate and responds to the interest of almost the entire population. We reiterate our openness to dialogue with authorities to advance in the necessary procedures,” added Crespo.
Unsurprisingly, Uber’s return was met by opposition from local taxis. “We are not going to allow the rights of organized workers, their sources of employment and their patrimony to be trampled on, so we will be prepared to take strong actions in favor of the taxi driver family,” Sindicato de Taxistas said in a statement via Riviera Maya News.
Uber originally entered the Cancun market in September 2016, with more than 300,000 people utilizing the service prior to its suspension the following year.
Nearly two-thirds of those users were national or international tourists visiting the region.
