St Lucia warns Uber operating illegally despite cease letters

The St Lucia government says American ride-hailing company Uber continues to operate on the island despite being warned twice to cease what officials describe as illegal operations.

Tourism Minister Dr Ernest Hilaire said the government has made its position clear that any company entering the transportation sector must comply with local laws and regulatory requirements.

“We want to be very clear that any player that comes into that space fulfils all the requirements set out by legislation,” Hilaire told reporters.

“At this point, we are waiting on a follow-up meeting and for us to have some clear indications as to what exactly Uber would want to do and so far as I have heard they continue to offer their services in St Lucía and up to yesterday I sent them a second letter reminding them that they are operating illegally in St Lucia,” Hilaire said.

Earlier this month, the Philip J. Pierre administration said it had not “in any way approved, sanctioned or encouraged Uber to operate any service in St Lucia,” amid growing public debate over the company’s recent launch on the island.

Hilaire said Uber first contacted the government last December expressing interest in establishing operations, describing itself as a technology platform connecting riders and drivers.

“We indicated to them then that we would be reviewing their intention and that we shall have discussions with them.

“They sent in a second note indicating that there has been substantial interest in St Lucia from taxi associations and individual taxi drivers. So they were going to move ahead, and again we told them that we would want to discuss the matter with the stakeholders and with Uber itself”.

According to the minister, the government later received notice from Uber stating “they were launching their service” in St Lucia.

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Hilaire said he subsequently met with stakeholders in the transportation sector and outlined the requirements Uber must meet to operate legally.

“I indicated to them that our position, as expressed in a letter which I sent to Uber, was that they were not fulfilling our regulatory requirements for them to operate in St Lucía and that we pointed out to them the regulatory requirements were.

“One, they needed to, in our view, obtain a trade licence before they can operate in St Lucia. Two, that they needed to register with the Inland Revenue Department for the purpose of payment of taxes owed to the government by operating a business in St Lucia, and, thirdly, they are required to be certified under the Tourism Development Act”.

He said those requirements were also shared with industry stakeholders as part of the government’s stated position, while maintaining openness to discussions with the company.

“We met with Uber and expressed those sentiments ..and we indicated to them that in our view they were operating illegally in St Lucía. They had not met the requirements to operate in St Lucía and we indicated to them that we believe that they needed to re-set and that they could not continue to operate as they are operating”.

Hilaire said Uber has promised a follow-up meeting to discuss the government’s concerns in greater detail.

“We asked them to suspend their operations in St Lucia until they had cleared the way forward. We are awaiting from them a date for our follow-up meeting and for us to decide how we move forward,” he said.