Uber, inDrive banned in Jamaica for 12 months amid national security concern

Jamaica has announced a 12-month ban, effective immediately, on ride-hailing taxi services including Uber, inDrive, 876OnTheGo, and Lyft and Ride due to a national security concern. The development comes a day after a primary school teacher was murdered by a taxi driver.

Transport and Telecommunications Minister Daryl Vaz announced the ban during his address in the Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

He said, “I want to indicate very clearly that I have today written to the telecom providers on a letter from the assistant or Deputy Commissioner of Police, indicating the concerns for the national safety of our citizens.” The Minister noted that he actually took a cabinet submission to cabinet three weeks ago to discuss this very matter due to the complaints he was getting from commuters and also from industry players who are playing by the rules and paying their fees for their license, etc. and these apps are undercutting them both in fare without any form of background checks and no monitoring by the transport authority. It is to be noted that the teacher Danielle Anglin went missing on May 13 and her dead body was found this Monday with the suspect already being in police custody.

Transport Minister Vat said that his recommendation will obviously have to be vetted for legal purposes. According to him, the ban should be put on all of those ride sharing apps with immediate effect, until such time that the government can come to the table and work out properly how these apps will be regulated in terms of making sure that safety.

In addition to this, background checks of the drivers are done by the Jamaican authorities, whether it be the police or the transport authority or whoever.

He also said that he is prepared to go to the end of the world to make sure that that ban is enforced immediately with a view.

While asking all the people in the government to give a heads up for the ban, he added that this is just one of several cases that the police have had evidence that these ride share apps have been used for criminal activity.