The draft legislation was approved by 42 votes to 1, and dozens of taxi drivers attending the session applauded the decision. There is a 15-day waiting period, after which the city’s mayor will ratify or reject the legislation.
The law affirms that only taxis which are legally registered by Rio’s local government can carry passengers and sets fines for violations of USD650 for companies and USD450 for individuals. Uber drivers are not legally registered and therefore do not comply with the legislation.
Omar Gomes of the ITF-affiliated CNTTT (Confederación Nacional de Trabajadores de Transporte Terrestre), said: “Road transport workers in Brazil demand respect for the law.
“We do not oppose the use of modern technology to facilitate the transportation of passengers and the mobility of cities but we insist that this work needs to be within the law and with the guarantee of decent working conditions for drivers.
“In Sao Paulo, for example, taxi unions have developed their own apps, using legal taxis offering the service, so as to tackle Uber’s pirate-style model, which we will continue to fight across Brazil.”
ITF Americas regional secretary Antonio Rodríguez Fritz commented that Uber avoids paying taxes because it claims not to be a taxi company, taxi drivers are not paid as employees and therefore their labour rights are denied, and it is unclear whether drivers and passengers are protected in the case of accidents. He added that ITF affiliates in Brazil have reported that Uber’s well-funded marketing and propaganda initiatives meant that its illegal way of operating went largely unchallenged by the country’s mainstream media.
