Globally reputed ride hailing company, Uber Technologies, Inc., has scarcely affirmed that it intends to forsake the Canada car sharing market, by ceasing all its operations in Quebec by the month of October. Uber’s decision possibly comes in the wake of the numerous regulations imposed by the Quebec government, which has been gravitating in the tabloids for quite a while now.
It would seem to be quite ironical that Uber’s exit from Quebec would mark the anniversary of the firm’s entry in the Quebec zone. Somewhere toward the end of September 2016, the Transport Minister in Quebec, Laurent Lessard, had authorized Uber to operate in the province, under a pilot program. The standard rules and norms had apparently been explained to the firm back then. The minister also mandated rules that commanded Uber drivers to undergo background checks by the police, as opposed to private companies. Furthermore, the cars were required to be inspected on an annual basis as well.
Now, at the onset of the pilot project renewal, the minister categorically insists that beside complying with the usual regulations, all the Uber drivers would have to undergo 35 hours of training, instead of the regular 20 hours, which in itself has been a major negotiation of sorts for the company, given that Quebec is the only province in Canada that requires drivers to undergo training. A catalog of further rules and regulations are also in place to be deployed, which may have finally done it for the car sharing market giant. Jean-Nicolas Guillemette, the director general of Uber Quebec, was quoted stating that 35 hours of training was way beyond what was essential anyway, not to mention, part-time drivers need not possibly even require a training schedule of this degree. In consequence, he has declared that if no change of any sort were to be evident on the horizon, the company would promptly shut down its operations in the province by the middle of October.
For the record, this has not been the first time Uber has made veiled threats to quit Quebec. Ever since the commencement of the pilot program, Guillemette had apparently mentioned that in case the government legislates Uber vehicles similar to the way it legislates the province’s taxis, the company would quit operations pronto. That didn’t happen then, though now, the negotiations between Uber and Quebec seem to have reached a boiling point, which may have finally led the former to cease it business in the region.