São Paulo Bill Would Limit Number of App Driver Vehicles to Number of Taxi Cabs

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A bill introduced in São Paulo’s city council seeks to enforce new rules for the operation of Uber, 99 and Cabify: the total number of drivers in these services may not exceed the number of taxi drivers in the city.

The companies will be required to buy “kilometer credits” for their partners to operate in the city of São Paulo. In addition, the vehicle must be in the driver’s name, excluding rented cars.

Bill 419/2018 is authored by city councilor Adilson Amadeu, who represents the taxi drivers and seeks to legislate the transportation of passengers through apps. It has been approved by the CCJ ( Constitution and Justice Committee) and should be voted in the São Paulo City Council later this week.

In a statement to Diário do Transporte, Amadeu says that “São Paulo’s city roads can no longer withstand this flood of app cars … we must take responsibility in the discussion and find ways to make this model sustainable”.

The councilor is the same who proposed to limit the total number of drivers per application to 20 percent of the taxi fleet in 2017. He called for the withdrawal of draft law 45/2017 “for required adjustments”; the outcome is the Bill (PL) described below.

Number of app drivers may not exceed that of taxi drivers

PL 419/2018 establishes that the number of vehicles accredited to provide Uber, 99 or any similar service may not exceed the number of taxis. The text indirectly mentions taxis, referring to them as individual public transportation “subject to a permit”.

“The city will authorize the accreditation of vehicles for the paid private transport service… their total number will never exceed that offered by means of an individual public transport permit,” says the bill.

It is estimated that there are 40,000 taxi drivers in São Paulo, compared to 250,000 app transport vehicles. Other cities have already attempted to set a maximum limit for app cars, such as Recife, Curitiba and Campo Grande, but have retreated. STF (Brazil’s Supreme Court) decisions believe the measure is unconstitutional, because only the federal government can regulate transport measures.

Trips will have a maximum price and will require km credits

In São Paulo, the bill establishes the CMMV (Municipal Road Network Committee) to inspect the activity of app transport companies. It will be chaired by the municipal secretary of Mobility and Transportation and will involve other secretariats and a city councilor from the Traffic and Transportation Committee.

Uber, 99 and other companies are defined as OTTCs (Accredited Transport Technology Operators). They will have “freedom to set the fare” charged to passengers, says the PL, but must respect a maximum amount that will be set by the CMMV.

In addition, the bill states that OTTCs will be required to purchase mileage credits. In other words, if Uber drivers travel 100,000 kilometers in one month, Uber will be charged a fee proportional to that distance by the city government. That goes for 99, Cabify and others.

The cost of these credits would be defined by the CMMV after the bill’s approval. They will serve “as a counterpart to the right to use the road network,” says the text.

Some types of vehicles and trips will use less credit than normal: this will involve driving time, the location of the vehicle during the trip, the presence of accessibility features, and the integration with other public transport modes.

The advantage also applies to non-polluting or hybrid cars.

Drivers should have a vehicle in their own name

There are also new rules for drivers. They must provide their services “solely and exclusively through OTTCs”, i.e. they may not make trips outside the app.

The vehicle must be in their name and licensed in the city of São Paulo, which would exclude rented cars; and must have a maximum age of eight years.

The PL also requires that at least five percent of mileage credits be used each month “exclusively by female drivers”. This requirement for distances traveled by women drivers increases to ten percent after eighteen months, and to 15 percent after twenty-four months.

The bill authorizes services such as Uber Together in São Paulo: “The OTTC may provide a system for splitting trips between calls from users whose destinations have convergent routes. These split trips are limited to up to 4 passengers per vehicle.

To become law, this PL still needs to be approved by the City Council and sanctioned by Mayor Bruno Covas, who could partially or totally veto it. If passed, it is likely to be challenged by the app companies targeted.