Uber holds most of the selective transport market

The company, valued in about 50 billion dollars, according to transportation experts and entrepreneurs, it has come to fill the need for a good service, and caused earnings to national carriers be cut by more than 50%, according to their estimates.

For carriers of the selective sector leader, Agustín Prado, Uber has had an important impact especially in the demand for foreign clients.

Prado argues that many of these customers are informed on the digital platform, subtracting largely citizens the possibility of benefiting from it.

Carlos Grinsmar, of hospitality tourism transportation sector, is also concerned about having to compete with a platform of digital transport that in addition to the low hotel occupancy in the country, "is far from compliance with the standards required of them as tourism transport".

"Currently, Uber in Panama has registered more than 30 thousand users or customers, and its popularity is made greater by the closeness that maintains with important business sectors of the country," he said.
Grinsmar explained that only in fairs and conventions of the major business associations, organizers offer the Uber service for the transportation of visitors.

Enrique Pesantez, Pesantez tour, argues that this responds mainly to the poor service provided by local carriers and their refusal to improve to compete for the market.

Former Director of the Authority of the Inland Traffic and Transport (ATTT), Carlos Harris, agrees with this approach, however, argues that the solution to this conflict would come hand in hand with the adequacy of the law and the inclusion of this service.

But the annoyance by carriers was higher when in mid-January of this year, Uber announced its clients lower their rates in the order of 20%, which in the view of those affected is a challenge, since it increases the competition that the market already has.

In this way, the rate base that was initially fixed at approximately two dollars 40 cents went to two dollars, likewise, the per-minute rate was set at 10 and 20 cents per kilometer.

In addition to Panama, in European countries and others, such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica and the United States, taxi drivers unions have joined to demand the authorities to create rules governing the service.

In Panama, the authorities have not come to define as yet about the legality or not of the service.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (Mici) has confirmed that the Uber company is registered on a platform where it complies with Panamanian legal norms to operate at the local level, but representatives from the ATTT have publicly stated the possible illegality of the service.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, and without defining the benefits received by the country by operation of Uber, the President of the Republic, Juan Carlos Varela, said on March 30, 2016, that shuttle Uber is not competition for local taxi drivers.

In Panama, as well as Uber other digital platform of Panama that provide similar services are operating and are added to the competition.

In this sense, the so-called TLLEVO includes own fleets of vehicle with free WIFI and a comprehensive network of partners with private cars.