The Minister of Works and Transport notes the published decision of UBER to suspend its operations in Trinidad and Tobago effective May 30th, 2018 and the reasoning advanced for the suspension. The national community is reminded of the Ministry’s previously stated position on the operations of the company in this country and the need for it to comply with all applicable laws.
This is all the much more important in the context of the complexities of the local transportation industry. Since the commencement of UBER’s operations in Trinidad and Tobago, the Minister of Works and Transport along with senior officials from the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs met with UBER on several occasions, with a view to working with the company for the purpose of re-aligning its operations in conformity with the country’s laws, particularly, the Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic
Act and Motor Vehicle Insurance (Third Party Risks) Act.
Towards this end, UBER was required to comply with two essential and immovable requirements which have affected the local informal transportation industry. Firstly UBER was required to fully disclose the particulars of its insurance coverage certification for passengers and drivers. Secondly it was asked to disclose its taxation structures as its system purportedly operates on a deduction system as it relates to its driver’s earnings without disclosure as to the payment of corporate, withholding and other taxes and
benefits, which should accrue to its local drivers.