Transport Minister Daryl Vaz
.png)
Transport Minister Daryl Vaz
By Halshane Burke
Minister of Transport Daryl Vaz says several measures are to be implemented to regulate ridesharing apps operating locally.
This follows a meeting Thursday involving critical stakeholders, including the Transport Authority and the police.
It comes on the heels of Tuesday's announced proposal to ban all ridesharing apps until they can properly fall under the ambit of the Transport Authority.
The Transport Minister says local entities will provide the Transport Authority with a list of drivers for review.
They will be allowed to engage only registered public passenger vehicle (PPV) drivers and vehicles that satisfy Transport Authority requirements.
"The ride-hailing operators are to submit the requested particulars of the operators for review at earliest, so the ball is in their court," said the minister, who added that the Transport Authority would then submit its recommendation detailing the entities compliant with the legal licensing arrangement for both vehicles and drivers.
The international apps will have to register a business in Jamaica and have representatives locally engage the Transport Authority and other local entities.
"The international ride-hailing operators should engage the Transport Authority to facilitate the vetting of vehicles and operators for fit and proper purposes," Mr. Vaz announced.
He noted that, so far, Uber is the only foreign based provider to have sent a proposal to the government of Jamaica.
"The inDrive ridesharing operators out of the United States have not been in touch with the Jamaican government. So there is nothing that we can do in relation to inDrive at this moment," he said.
comments powered by Disqus
All feeds
