Advantages And Disadvantages Of Uber

Midterm essay: UBER case

UBER is a company offering transport services in many countries. However, it raises conflicts with many taxi systems in many of those countries that we will try to analyze.
We will see what are the advantages and drawbacks that brings UBER and we will see what are the problems of legislation it arises. Our ultimate objective is to prove why incorporating Uber into the Mexican system is desirable.

Uber offers many advantages for nationals in Mexico.
In the Uber app, a customer can see a picture and the name of his driver, the plate of the car, can see if he is well rated whereas taxis feel less secure.
A taxi driver must have driver license that can be easily bought, a taxi license shown and stuck inside the car

Also, the price for a same distance is more or less the same.
In Mexico, the price of taxi courses tends to be high because the government imposes a quota. Indeed, the offer of taxis is lower and the demand of taxis is already high as some places are not easy to reach by foot or by public transportations or can take a long time. In this case, the excess of demand is satisfied by Uber cabs.

The main disadvantage of Uber is that the government doesn’t benefit from the company profits. So Mexico should tax the company to make it more beneficial for the community and the system.

The case of Uber is very controversial in many countries because many taxi systems have been implemented for a long time and are accusing Uber of unfair competition and of stealing their market.
However, the targeted market by Uber are people that can afford a smartphone and those people don’t represent the major part of taxis’ market. People who take taxis are usually not very rich, they are willing to go from a point A to a point B easier and not all of them own a

Uber is accused of unfair competition, but proving that it is guilty is hard because the case of Uber is actually out of the legislation. This case arises new legislative issues that didn’t exist before new technologies changed the world.

The easiest alternative for the Mexican government to deal with the Uber issue is to allow it in the country but to impose any kind of tax on revenue to this international company.
Another alternative would be to develop a national application, to abolish the bribery system to get a taxi license and the quota system, to set up extra controls before giving a driving license. This second alternative would be more safe, more reliable on a long-term period but it implies many changes for the system and the people.
People are naturally against changes, that is why the first alternative would be preferable and it would still be a first step towards slight changes and improvements .