Antonio Marte, the president of Conatra, the transport consortium, announced that its taxi driver members will meet to decide whether they suspend service to protest the start of operations of the UberX transport service in the country. Marte claims that the Uber X service is unregulated and represents an unfair competition to Conatra members. He said Uber X could effectively put out of work thousands of drivers in the capital city and other urban areas in county.
He says that the emergence of Uber X could affect the political aspirations of President Danilo Medina as the country enters into an election year in 2016. Marte said that the Conatra affiliated drivers and their families add up to thousands of votes for Medina that could be in jeopardy if Uber X is allowed to put Conatra members out of work.
Interviewed by Antena Latina TV station, Marte said that the government needs to regulate the operations of UberX and take out of service old vehicles and replace them for new ones, as per an agreement he says his company has reached.
Conatra president expressed his concern the UberX taxis would be authorized to work in airports and tourist centers threatening the business of thousands of traditional taxi drivers.
Read more in Spanish:
http://elnuevodiario.com.do/mobile/article.aspx?id=451156
http://www.7dias.com.do/portada/2015/11/05/i199840_sistema-taxi-renueva-uber-desplaza.html
http://www.7dias.com.do/elpais/2015/10/30/i199528_conatra-conataxi-respaldan-postura-del-cart-frente-empresa-uber.html