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Deregulation of Public Transportation Services: Can Uber Accomplish the Task?

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Global Perspectives on Legal Challenges Posed by Ridesharing Companies
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Abstract

Mexico City is the first and the largest city in the world, outside the USA, to approve an innovative regulation for Transport Network Companies. These regulations imposed an original approach by categorizing TNCs’ services as private transportation services as opposed to the public transportation services provided by taxis. This has resulted in a different treatment to services rendered by TNCs. This chapter will look at the legislative and adjudicatory developments to examine if this different treatment is justified and will identify certain loopholes in this regulation which can lead to conclude that the purported differences are inexistent.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Article 124 of the Federal Constitution.

  2. 2.

    INEGI (2015).

  3. 3.

    OECD (2015a, b).

  4. 4.

    INEGI (2018).

  5. 5.

    Ley de Movilidad de la Ciudad de México (Law of Mobility of Mexico City). The most recent amendment was published on April 23, 2020. Please be advised that all laws and regulations cited in this chapter were accessed and in effect on May 16, 2020. They may be changed afterward.

  6. 6.

    Articles 99 and 100 of the Law of Mobility of Mexico City.

  7. 7.

    Ibid., Article 95. Although it is not difficult to obtain concessions in the name of a relative or close friend.

  8. 8.

    Ibid., Article 104.

  9. 9.

    Ibid., Articles 163 and 164.

  10. 10.

    Ibid., Articles 94, 110 and 118.

  11. 11.

    This information was confirmed by Julio Romero, Manager of Sitio 197, and Juan O’Gorman Merino, businessman in public transportation services, on June 18, 2018.

  12. 12.

    Article 90 of the Law of Mobility of Mexico City.

  13. 13.

    Ibid., Article 110.

  14. 14.

    Ibid., Article 82.

  15. 15.

    Ibid., Article 115, subsection VIII.

  16. 16.

    Transportation Network Companies are companies that connect passengers with drivers through an electronic platform that may be downloaded in a mobile phone. In Spanish, TNCs are called: Empresas de Redes de Transporte (ERT).

  17. 17.

    The survey was conducted among 52 people from different ages and in different environments. The group was comprised of ladies from a sports club and the trainer, women lawyers that work in big firms and multinational companies in Mexico City, moms with kids in a middle class school in Mexico City, and students of a social sciences methodology course at UNAM (the biggest public university in Mexico). No random sample was made. People that answered the survey were available at the place and time the survey was being made, or chose to answer the survey when they received the link through a WhatsApp chat to which they belong.

  18. 18.

    Uber (2020). Aguascalientes, Campeche, Cancún, Celaya, Chihuahua, Ciudad de México, Ciudad Juárez, Ciudad Obregón, Ciudad Victoria, Colima, Cuautla, Cuernavaca, Culiacán, Dolores Hidalgo, Durango, Gomez Palacio, Guadalajara, Guanajuato, Guasave, Guaymas, Hermosillo, Irapuato, La Paz, León, Los Cabos, Los Mochis, Manzanillo, Mazatlán, Mérida, Mexicali, Monclova, Monterrey, Morelia, Navojoa, Nogales, Nuevo Vallarta, Piedras Negras, Puebla, Puerto Vallarta, Querétaro, Salamanca, Saltillo, San Juan Del Rio, San Luis Potosí, San Luis Rio Colorado, San Miguel de Allende, Tampico, Tehuacán, Tepic, Tijuana, Tlaxcala, Toluca, Torreón, Uruapan, Villahermosa y Zacatecas.

  19. 19.

    Number of drivers obtained from the information Uber publishes in its web page: https://www.uber.com/es-MX/newsroom/todos-los-viajes-realizados-en-la-aplicacion-de-uber-seran-asegurados-por-axa-seguros-y-seguros-sura/.

  20. 20.

    Comisión Federal de Competencia Económica.

  21. 21.

    Opinion OPN-008-2015.

  22. 22.

    Chavez (2018). Easytaxi purchased Yaxi in 2018. Accordingly, Easytaxi changed its name to EasyYaxi. Eventhough both companies started connecting consumers only with taxi drivers, they have extended their services to connect consumers also with drivers that offer private transportation services.

  23. 23.

    Registry of Companies that Operate or Administrate Applications and Digital Platforms for the Control, Programming and/or Geolocation in Fixed or Mobile Devices, through which persons may hire a private transportation service with a driver with Mexico City.

  24. 24.

    Fondo para el Taxi, Movilidad y el Peatón.

  25. 25.

    The last requirement was incorporated in the amended TNC’s Ruling published on April 25. 2019.

  26. 26.

    Pursuant to interviews with taxi drivers, they continue to think that Uber constitutes unfair competition, as they operate without a concession and do not have to comply with all the regulation applicable to public transportation services. But they have focused on trying to improve their services.

  27. 27.

    In an interview held on February 14, 2018, at the offices of Uber located in Mexico City, an officer of the Company informed that from 2016 up to December 2017 Uber had contributed $212,649,549.00 pesos. In an email dated May 5, 2020, the officer informed Uber has contributed over $530,000,000.00 pesos, equivalent to over US$22’000,000.00 Dollars according to an exchange rate of 23.95 pesos per dollar. BANXICO (2020).

  28. 28.

    Código Fiscal de la Ciudad de México. Taxes are paid directly to the Treasury of the Mexico City government, and therefore, contributions are no longer paid to a trust.

  29. 29.

    In Mexico City, vehicles must have a minimum invoice price of at least $200,000.00 Pesos, equivalent to approximately US$8,361.20 Dollars, according to an exchange rate of 23.92 pesos per dollar published by Banco de Mexico.http://www.banxico.org.mx/portal-mercado-cambiario/ Accessed 2 May 2020.

  30. 30.

    According to officers of Uber, in interview held on February 14, 2018, in the offices of Uber Mexico, vehicle revisions were made randomly. Uber, as many other companies in Mexico, may challenge the regulation by filing an amparo suit against any law or legal provision that binds them to do anything they deem is against the Constitution. By filing the complaint, the company may cease to comply with the law until a final judgment is issued.

  31. 31.

    Rule 9 of TNCs’ Ruling published on April 25, 2019, in the Official Gazette of Mexico City.

  32. 32.

    Uber (2015).

  33. 33.

    Reglamento de la Ley de Movilidad del Distrito Federal (Law of Mobility Regulation), amended on April 24 and 26, 2019.

  34. 34.

    Articles 58 and 59 of the Regulation of the Law of Mobility for the Federal District.

  35. 35.

    See above note 18.

  36. 36.

    Uber (2020). States of Mexico where Uber operates: Aguascalientes, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Ciudad de México, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Colima, Chihuahua, Durango, Estado de México, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Michoacán, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo León, Puebla, Querétaro, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Yucatán y Zacatecas.

  37. 37.

    Aguascalientes, Guanajuato, Querétaro, Jalisco, Yucatán, Sonora, Puebla, Coahuila, CDMX, San Luis Potosí, Tijuana (the State of Baja California authorizes cities to regulate transportation services), Estado de México, Colima, Nayarit, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas and Quintana Roo.

  38. 38.

    Article 209 of Law of Mobility of Aguascalientes (hereafter “Law of Aguascalientes”), article 177 of the Sustentable Mobility Law of Colima, article 18 of the Regulation of services for the Transportation of by Electronic Means of Sonora (hereafter “the Law of Sonora”), article 101 of the Law of Transportation and Sustainable Mobility for the State of Coahuila de Zaragoza (hereafter “the Law of Coahuila”), article 370 of the Law of Mobility of Nayarit, article 106 of the Law of Sustainable Mobility and Accessibility for the state of Nuevo León (hereafter “the Law of Nuevo León”) and article 71 Bis of the Public Transport Law of the State of San Luis Potosí (hereafter “the Law of San Luis Potosí”).

  39. 39.

    Article 293 of Regulation of the Public Transportation for the Municipality of Tijuana, state of Baja California (hereafter “the Law of Tijuana”).

  40. 40.

    Article 134 of the Law of Aguascalientes, Article 4 of the Law of Sonora, Article 158 Mobility Law of Quintana Roo (hereafter, “the Law of Quintana Roo”), article 105 Quinquies Decies of Law of Mobility for the Transport of Querétaro (hereafter “the Law of Querétaro”) and article 71 Septies of the Law of San Luis Potosí.

  41. 41.

    Articles 134, 135, 208–216 of the Law of Aguascalientes.

  42. 42.

    Article 163 of the Law of Quintana Roo, article 100 of the Law of Coahuila, article 16 of the Law of Sonora and article 36 Bis of Law of Transport of the State of Puebla (hereafter “the Law of Puebla”).

  43. 43.

    Article 293 of the Law of Tijuana and article 7.880 Quarter of the Civil Code of Estado de México (hereafter “the Civil Code of Edomex”).

  44. 44.

    Uber (2017).

  45. 45.

    Animal Político (2017). According to the stories that were published in the news, Mara Castilla took a cabify in the state of Puebla from a club to go home before the dawn of September 8, 2017, but she never got home.

  46. 46.

    Article 92 Quater, subsections VI and VII of the Law of Puebla.

  47. 47.

    The Uber application allows users to share their trip with a third party.

  48. 48.

    This proceeding is called “Acción de Inconstitucionalidad.”

  49. 49.

    Acción de Inconstitucionalidad 63/2016.

  50. 50.

    See Footnote 1.

  51. 51.

    Justice Norma Lucía Piña Hernández.

  52. 52.

    Transcription (versiones taquigráficas) of the discussions held on May 23–25, 2017.

  53. 53.

    Dissenting vote (voto particular y concurrente) of Justice Arturo Zaldívar Lelo de Larrea.

  54. 54.

    Uber (2018).

  55. 55.

    Fuentes (2017); Cerbón (2019).

  56. 56.

    Interview with officers of Uber held on February 14, 2018, in the offices of Uber Mexico.

  57. 57.

    In May 2020.

  58. 58.

    The Supreme Justice of Mexico resolved Acción de Inconstitucionalidad 13/2017 on October 16, 2018. In such case, lawmakers of the legislative body of the state of Colima challenged certain provisions of the Law of Mobility of Colima that they deemed unconstitutional. The Supreme Court of Justice resolved that the local authorities could not forbid the use of cash in transportation services as it was a federal matter; and accordingly, the Supreme Court invalidated the legal provision that prohibited payments in cash.

  59. 59.

    Uber (2018).

  60. 60.

    Redondo (2018). According to several news sites, taxis are working in an app to compete with TNCs’ services.

  61. 61.

    Articles 73, section X, and 123 of the Federal Constitution.

  62. 62.

    Ley Federal del Trabajo.

  63. 63.

    Tesis 2ª. /J.20/2005, with Registry number 178849; Tesis I.7o.T. J/25, with Registry number 172794; Tesis: I.9o.T. J/51, with Registry Number 172688; Tesis I.10.T.J./52, with Registry number 174925.

  64. 64.

    Article 20 of the Federal Labor Law.

  65. 65.

    Registro: 242682. RELACION LABORAL, CARACTERISTICAS DE LA.

  66. 66.

    Article 15-A of the Federal Labor Law. Also see: Amador and Riquelme (2015).

  67. 67.

    Conversations held between February and June 2018 with José Manuel, José Luis, Héctor, Gustavo, Carlos, Luis and Emanuel when using Uber for transportation.

  68. 68.

    Uber (2018), Uber (2020).

  69. 69.

    Article 2 of the Commercial Code (Código de Comercio).

  70. 70.

    Ibid., Articles 3, 4 and 75.

  71. 71.

    Articles 6, 12 and 13 of the Federal Civil Code (Código Civil Federal).

  72. 72.

    According to article 2, subsection II, of the Consumer Protection Law, a Mexican or foreign company that customarily offers or renders services in Mexico is a “provider.”

  73. 73.

    Articles 1 and 6 of the Consumer Protection Law (Ley Federal de Protección al Consumidor).

  74. 74.

    Ibid., Article 5.

  75. 75.

    Ibid., Chapter VIII Bis.

  76. 76.

    Normas Oficiales Mexicanas, also called NOMs, are binding technical rules that have been issued under article 40 of the Federal Law on Metrology and Standardization (Ley Federal sobre Metrología y Normalización). Such law which will be replaced by the Quality Infrastructure Law as from August 30, 2020.

  77. 77.

    The NMX-COE-001-SCFI-2018 defines “intermediary providers” as a person that operates an information system which connects third party providers with consumers for a commercial transaction or service, on the understanding that the system may facilitate payment or the performance of the service.

  78. 78.

    Article 85 of the Consumer Protection Law.

  79. 79.

    See above note 28.

  80. 80.

    Senator José de Jesús Santana García. https://www.senado.gob.mx/64/gaceta_del_senado/documento/76375. Accessed 14 May 2020. However, up to May 14, 2020, the bill has not been approved.

  81. 81.

    Articles 3, subsection I, and 75, subsection VIII, of the Commercial Code.

  82. 82.

    Article 2,117 of the Civil Code for Mexico City.

  83. 83.

    Articles 2,647, 2,650 and 2,654 of the Civil Code for Mexico City provide that the carrier is responsible to pay damages and loss of profit if drivers cannot pay. The articles may assume a labor relationship.

  84. 84.

    Article 2,111 of the Civil Code for Mexico City.

  85. 85.

    Article 1,910 of the Civil Code for Mexico City.

  86. 86.

    Devices or substances that are dangerous in themselves, due to the velocity they may reach, explosive nature or similar causes. Article 1,913 of the Civil Code for Mexico City.

  87. 87.

    Article 1,913 of the Civil Code for Mexico City.

  88. 88.

    Articles 1,917, 1,924, 1,928, 1,935 of the Civil Code for Mexico City regulate civil liability arising from tort. Article 1,917 provides that persons that have jointly caused a damage are jointly liable. It may be argued that the vehicle owner contributed to the damage by providing the vehicle to a negligent driver. The remaining 3 articles presume a labor relationship.

  89. 89.

    For example: it the driver is under 18 years old or has a disability for driving a vehicle.

  90. 90.

    Articles 1,911, 1,924, 1,936 and 2,647 of the Civil Code for Mexico City.

  91. 91.

    Article 2,657 of the Civil Code for Mexico City.

  92. 92.

    First Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of Mexico, Tesis: 1a. CCXXXVI/2014 (10a.), Registry: 2006738, DAÑOS POR NEGLIGENCIA. SI SE OCASIONAN, NO PUEDEN TENERSE POR ACEPTADOS CON BASE EN UN CONTRATO DE PRESTACIÓN DE SERVICIOS.

  93. 93.

    Article 156 of the Law of Quintana Roo, article 214 of the Law of Sustainable Mobility and Transportation for Baja California and article 7.880 Ter of the Civil Code of Edomex.

  94. 94.

    Article 43 of the Law of Sonora, article 291 of the Law of Tijuana, article 83 Ter of Law of Mobility and Transport of Jalisco, articles 38 and 105 Undecies of the Law of Querétaro and article 71 Sexties of the Law of San Luis Potosí. Article 101 of the Law of Coahuila imposes on NTCs the obligation to contract an insurance policy to cover jointly with the driver any damages that may be caused by the driver. Articles 104 of the Law of Nuevo León, 36 Sexties of the Transportation Law of Yucatán and 36 Sexties of the Transportation Law of Tamaulipas provide TNCs will be liable if the driver does not have an insurance policy.

  95. 95.

    Uber (2020).

    Uber (2017).

  96. 96.

    Uber (2020). https://www.uber.com/mx/es/ride/safety/ Accessed 16 May 2020.

    Uber (2018).

  97. 97.

    Rule 3.11.11 of Miscelánea Fiscal para 2020.

  98. 98.

    Uber (2020).

References

Applicable Mexican Laws and Regulations (all accessed as of May 14, 2020)

  • Acuerdo por el que se crea el Registro de Personas Morales que Operen, Utilicen y/o Administren Aplicaciones para el Control, Programación y/o Geolocalización en Dispositivos Fijos o Móviles, a través de las cuales los Particulares pueden Contratar el Servicio Público de Taxi en el Distrito Federal publicado en la Gaceta No. 133 Bis, 15 de Julio de 2015, Gaceta Oficial Distrito Federal

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  • Ley Federal de Metrología y Normalización

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Correspondence to Rosa M. Rojas Vértiz C. .

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Rojas Vértiz C., R.M. (2021). Deregulation of Public Transportation Services: Can Uber Accomplish the Task?. In: Ayata, Z., Önay, I. (eds) Global Perspectives on Legal Challenges Posed by Ridesharing Companies. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7035-3_4

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