Uber Still Not Authorized In Cancun Ahead of Summer

Uber won’t be returning to Cancún, a hotspot for spring breakers and vacationers. The ride-sharing company has actually been trying to return to the Cancún market for more than a year. You may remember that Uber exited Cancún just months after it introduced service there in 2016. Local government officials and members of the local taxi union were critical of Uber from the start. Uber wasn’t technically kicked out of Cancún. However, the company’s exit from the region came just as new regulations were being proposed that would have made operating there essentially impossible.

Things were looking promising at the beginning of 2019. In fact, Uber and most people familiar with the situation probably expected for the company to be back up and running in Cancún by now. Uber presented an application for entry to the Instituto de Movilidad de Quintana Roo at the start of 2019. The company has been waiting months for authorization to be announced. It turns out that officials aren’t acting because they don’t actually know how to handle a company like Uber. A lack of regulation for services like the one Uber provides means that no precedent is in place for how Uber should be allowed to operate. Of course, it’s easy to speculate that this is just an excuse that is being used because local officials and union leaders really don’t want Uber coming back to the Cancún market. The ride-sharing company served more than 300,000 customers in Cancún during its very brief stint. Most of the customers that Uber served were tourists. That was understandably seen as bad news by members of the local taxi union.

Anyone traveling to Cancún this year for spring break is definitely out of luck when it comes to being able to catch a ride with Uber. However, summertime travelers may be able to use the app while visiting the popular Mexican resort destination. Officials are saying that the proper preparations for allowing Uber to return to the area will be in place by July of this year. That’s when authorization will supposedly be given regarding all permits and concessions.

Uber has some pretty big plans for when it is finally allowed to operate in Cancún again. In fact, the company plans to launch for a second time with twice as many drivers. Something like 2,000 drivers will be on the ride-hailing app’s roster if and when it is able to resume service in Cancún.

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