Yesterday after the Government of Costa Rica presented a bill to the Legislative Assembly to legalize Uber and similar platforms allowing them to coexist with regular cab services, Uber analyzed the proposal and stated its position in this regard.

According to Uber ¨the vision of the government is far from being a proposal that promotes innovation, competition and development of technology¨

¨Given the climate of economic contraction and the lack of work opportunities for Costa Ricans, this proposal would force to only allow a limited number of people to register as partners on the different platforms¨, explained the company through a press release.

The project proposes that the different platforms must register with the Council of Public Transportation declaring them as Transportation Platform Companies (EPT in Spanish), they will be subject to the payment of VAT (Value Added Taxes) equivalent to 13%. Uber, as well as any other platform that began operating in the country prior to the establishment of this new law, must pay a registration amount (and fine) of approximately $13,875,774.00.

The document also considers the creation of a National Mobility Fund that will be used to maintain the taxi fleet modern. This fund would be financed with a 3% of the amount paid over the final amount of trips done by the ETP.

Uber showed its concerned for the high amounts included in the proposal, which would translate into charges to their drivers. The company has stated in the past their willingness to pay taxes, but requests that the Commission of Economic Matters of the Legislative Assembly to consider all presented proposals and initiate inclusive decisions that result on an innovative project¨.

There are currently close to 22 thousand registered drivers and over 800,000 users, which makes Costa Rica the country with more market penetration in Latin America and one of the most important markets worldwide for the company.

Uber also contributes with additional jobs through Uber Eats, which was launched in December 2017 and their Excellence Center in the country which has close to 500 direct collaborators.