I know of at least one place where they do it. In Cancun airport (Mexico) there are fake taxis that charge an absurdly abusive price for transporting people. There are tons of guys and gals offering their taxi service but the price is nuts. They are so many and so shameless that there is no way that the authority is not aware of this; and, indeed a real taxi later explained that these fake taxis are colluded with the local authorities up to Mexico’s president and that the corruption is so juicy that Uber had to charge a 35% commission to Uber Drivers to give a portion to the government authorities so that the government would allow Uber to enter Cancun. Is this a common practice from Uber? That is, bribing authorities to get permission to enter their market?
Why not?
Technically this is illegal although hard to enforce
One reason that comes to my mind is that it’s forbidden by the USA.
I always thought that Uber was unprofitable company that is kept alive by zero interest rates. But this post makes me rethink my approach to Uber from my libertarian perspective. Uber is doing more for liberty 🗽 and free market than all of the crypto and private state startups. He is slowly eroding government parasites 🦠 or in economic terms special interest groups that have captured the legislative function. I wish there are more startups who go on front fight with government and their beneficiaries .
But if Uber bribes corrupt authorities, is it really fighting corruption?
Every big company bribes some government in some way for something. You just gotta know how to structure it so it's not super obvious.
I don’t know but Uber in the city means I don’t have to worry about if I will be overcharged for the service. Although Uber itself overcharges fare but in return at least I have mental safety and security that the driver is vetted and isn’t going to kidnap me or extort if I am taking Uber in a different country But for the local market, it’s good to evaluate and chose whatever helps your pocket.
Uber has a long track record of bribes and corruption. https://www.cnet.com/google-amp/news/uber-medical-records-rape-lawsuit-india/
hopefully they keep doing it
I'm sure a lot of companies do this .. it's hard to distinguish a bribe from a grease payment so its hard to enforce the FCPA https://www.secwhistleblowerattorney.net/fcpa-whistleblower-lawyer/what-is-the-difference-between-fcpa-grease-payments-and-foreign-bribes/#:~:text=Grease%20Payment%20Defined&text=A%20grease%20payment%20is%20not,a%20bribe%2C%20and%20therefore%20illegal.