Chetumal Taxi Drivers Could Join Uber Under Proposed Mobility Law Reform

Chetumal, Quintana Roo — Licensed taxi drivers in Quintana Roo’s capital could soon be allowed to pick up passengers through the Uber app, the head of the state’s mobility institute said.

Rafael Hernández Kotasek, director of the Institute of Mobility of Quintana Roo (Imoveqroo), said drivers who hold a valid concession would be able to use the digital platform as an additional way to attract riders. Holding a current concession would be the key requirement for joining that arrangement, he said.

Hernández Kotasek said Imoveqroo is working with the leadership of the Sindicato Único de Choferes de Automóviles de Alquiler, the local taxi drivers’ union, on a reform to the state Mobility Law that would be sent to the State Congress.

The proposal aims to spell out more clearly the conditions under which digital platforms operate and to give legal certainty to both drivers and users, he said.

Rules would not end Uber’s private service

The change would not stop Uber from continuing to operate under its current private-service model, the director said, since platform drivers can keep working as long as they meet the requirements set by the institute.

Uber previously won an injunction against the state Mobility Law, which sought to require platform drivers to obtain a public transport concession similar to the one held by traditional taxi drivers. The Third Collegiate Court of the Twenty-Seventh Circuit ruled that passenger transport booked through an app is a private service rather than a public one, meaning its drivers can operate in Quintana Roo without a government concession.

Hernández Kotasek said the reform is intended to let taxi drivers who already hold a concession sign up with Uber voluntarily, using the platform’s technology to widen their options for work, reach more users and offer their services through digital tools.

He added that the change would set clear rules for both types of service, curb unauthorized public transport and create conditions for the taxi industry to adopt new mobility alternatives.

“We are seeking to open an opportunity so that concessionaires of traditional public transport can also take advantage of digital platforms, without modifying the scheme under which the private service currently operates,” he said.

The director said the proposed reform must be presented before the current session of the XVIII Legislature of the State Congress ends.