Jamaica bans ride-hailing services inDrive and Uber after teacher's murder
Published:Tuesday | June 4, 2024 | 5:36 PM
Jamaica has announced a 12-month ban, with immediate effect, on ride-hailing transport services inDrive, Uber, 876OnTheGo, Lyft and Ride Jamaica because of a "national security concern".
Transport and Telecommunications Minister Daryl Vaz made the announcement during his contribution to the Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday afternoon.
The move comes a day after the police said a convicted sex offender who offered the service is implicated in the murder of teacher Danielle Anglin. A body believed to be hers was found on Monday. She went missing on May 13.
Ride-sharing or hailing involves travelling in a private vehicle driven by its owner, free or for a fee. The service is generally arranged using an Internet-based application or website.
Vaz said his recommendation for the ban "will, obviously, have to be vetted for legal purposes".
He said he has written to Flow and Digicel Jamaica, the country's two telecommunication providers on the matter based on a letter he received from the police.
Vaz published a letter dated June 4 on social media site X, addressed to Stephen Price, the vice president and general manager of Cable and Wireless (Jamaica), advising that "effectively immediately", the company and its affiliates "are directed to restrict access to all ride-hailing applications via its network".
The letter noted that the services are being used by persons "to provide transportation services without appropriate fit and proper checks and in breach of existing laws to include the Road Traffic Law Act and the Transport Authority Act".
"The Jamaica Constabulary Force has advised that several heinous crimes to include, murder, rape, abduction and robberies, have been committed by persons who have purportedly contracted via these platforms to provide transportation services," it continued, before pointing to the "risk to the safety of citizens and residents and visitors to Jamaica".
Vaz said the directive will remain in effect for 12 months in the first instance or "until a regulatory regime for the use of ride-hailing applications and services has been established".
"Right is reserved to update this directive to advise which ride hailing applications and/or services have brought its operations into compliance and conformity with local laws".
Vaz advised Digicel of a similar restriction in a June 4 letter addressed to Chief Executive Officer Stephen Murad.
The letters did not include specific mention of legislative provisions that allow the minister to issue the directive.
"I make no apologies, I have a responsibility as a minister and an elected representative to protect the lives of the people. And, I am prepared to go to the end of the world to make sure that that ban is in force immediately," Vaz told lawmakers on Tuesday.
He also said three weeks ago he brought his concerns about the regulatory gaps to the Cabinet.
In an update on the teacher's case, Deputy Commissioner of Police Fitz Bailey lamented that investigators were having problems with cases involving ride-sharing services because of the absence of a regulatory framework.
The suspect was charged in Jamaica for sex offences and convicted in Antigua and Barbuda in 2015.
Local transport players have also raised concerns that they were at a disadvantage because the ride-hailing services were escaping the rules and fees they have to satisfy to operate.
Convicted sex offender nabbed as police find body believed to be missing schoolteacher
- Janet Silvera
Follow The Gleaner on X and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com