Warning: The following time you land at Cancun Worldwide Airport, you can be arrested simply since you ordered an Uber as an alternative of an everyday taxi. That is precisely what occurred to a few vacationers final week.
Over the previous two years we have now reported on ongoing abuses by ‘authorized’ taxi corporations at this airport, together with frequent incidents of violence towards drivers and customers of ride-hailing platforms akin to Uber and Cabify.
Whereas Uber drivers declare they’ve a court docket order permitting them to function on the airport, taxi drivers insist this violates federal regulation. For causes that stay unclear, the Nationwide Guard seems to be siding with taxi unions.
This time, three vacationers have been ready for his or her Uber on the Terminal 2 toll space when taxi drivers began harassing them, taking images, recording movies, and naturally, calling the Nationwide Guard to get them in hassle.
Nationwide Guard officers rapidly arrived on scene to cease the Uber driver from offering the experience. When one of many girls argued that she must be given the service she thought was most secure, the places of work positioned her in a service automobile, telling her she needed to “make a press release” on the police station to “discover” the taxi drivers who had come ahead. confront’. her.
The lady protested, questioning how one can “confront” somebody if she was the one one compelled to go to the station.
Thankfully for this lady and her companions, a local news channel was presentthroughout which the Nationwide Guard was challenged for his or her actions. However you won’t be so fortunate.
After a while, the police merely let her go, however not earlier than attempting to cease journalists from recording the complete episode.
So why do vacationers really feel ‘safer’ once they use an Uber as an alternative of an everyday taxi?
Sadly, this sentiment is shared by many vacationers on social media. Right here, up Touring life-stylewe have now reported instances of taxi drivers assaulting Uber drivers and passengers. The most typical types of abuse embrace verbal harassment, fights, injury to autos and, in fact, scams.
A putting instance is the case of Xavier Cornier, a Canadian vacationer who went viral on TikTok after having to pay $1,056.28 for a experience from Terminal 4 to three, as confirmed by the Public Prosecutor’s Workplace in April.
That rip-off clearly concerned a number of members, as two safety guards tricked him into believing that he was not allowed to remain in Terminal 3 and that he needed to transfer to the subsequent one and “pay the taxi driver with a bank card.” These safety guards conveniently failed to say that the airport affords free shuttle service between terminals.
One other latest case occurred in September when a Venezuelan household was noticed on the freeway after taxi drivers tried to cost them $80 to take them into the town, regardless of the official fare being round $32.
So is it unlawful to take an Uber at Cancun Worldwide Airport?
Common taxi drivers – and even Nationwide Guard officers – will let you know it’s. However that isn’t the case. At the least not anymore.
In August 2024, the court docket dominated in favor of Uber drivers. which means they’re now legally allowed to function at Cancun Worldwide Airport with out the necessity for added permits.
“The court docket’s ruling, efficient from August 15, 2024, implies that Uber drivers will not want particular permission to function in airport areas. This resolution removes earlier obstacles and permits Uber to compete straight with conventional taxi companies.” says the official web site.
Nevertheless, tensions between Uber drivers and native taxi unions proceed, leaving vacationers caught between the 2. For those who really feel your proper to public transportation is being violated, you may name Uber “has additionally launched an emergency button within the app, which connects drivers on to 911 for fast help in high-risk conditions.”
“At Uber, we reject any type of violence and promote accessible mobility for all,” the corporate stated.