2024-02-04 03:55:00
There is a common pattern over the last 250 years of modern economic history. Every time a technological innovation appears on the scene, costs go down and quality of life improves.and work productivity increases exponentially.
Technological disruption generates a radical change in the way of producing and working. Inevitably, This generates tensions within the current productive structure until the change manifests itself.
Specifically, there are trades, jobs and companies that disappear, and others that emerge on the horizon to satisfy new needs and create jobs that did not exist before.
It usually happens that the current legislation that provides a framework for production and work fails to cover or interpret the employment and production relations of the new scenario.
In all cases, however, it ends up being the demand that validates the changes. New goods and services are received, validated, consumed, and then progressively demanded en masse.. It is this new demand that confirms the change of era.
In the current scenario, access to infinite information and hyperconnectivity They not only strengthen the birth of new technologies, but also accelerate development times. An example of this is the advance of the knowledge economy, electronic commerce, virtual wallets or service apps, which have helped improve the quality of transactions, the versatility of commerce, consumer security, and the user experience of services.
A paradigmatic case of this type of tools is that of applications focused on urban passenger transport, where Uber is the most established brand, although there are others such as Cabify or Didi.
The emergence of this type of apps has generated reactions for and once morest in all the places in the world where they have been launched.
Unequal and current controversy
Those who oppose the arrival of Uber argue violation of labor regulations, little control over the identity of the drivers or the condition of the vehicle (which threatens security), and inequality between taxi ownerswho must face the very high cost of a license and strict health checks, and Uber drivers that do not assume any cost or control.
The same logic of inequality might be applied to the use of Mercado Libre in relation to the cost faced by a merchant who pays rent, commercial authorization, commissions and taxes. Strikingly, The use of apps is socially accepted in the case of commerce, while for the taxi service it continues to generate resistance.
In fact, the regulatory body of local governments is usually much broader in the case of commerce than for the transportation of taxis or remises. However, local governments tend not to put the same emphasis official in controlling the use of different types of applications.
The controversy came to light once more this week in our region, with a demonstration of taxi drivers in front of the Municipality of Neuquén in which they demanded that Uber be prevented from arriving in the provincial capital.
The next day, the city’s official Twitter published that “The #MunicipalidaddeNeuquén ratifies its position once morest the arrival of the transportation services application, Uber, since it considers unfair competition for the regulated taxi and remises service.”
The #MunicipalidaddeNeuquén ratifies its position once morest the arrival of the transportation services application, Uber, since it considers unfair competition for the regulated taxi and remises service.????@MovyCitizen
— Neuquén Capital (@munineuquen) January 29, 2024
Hours later and in dialogue with Río Negro Radio, the chief of staff of the Municipality of Neuquén, María Pasqualini, reaffirmed the official position: “Neuquén today says no to Uber or any application of this type that might come.”
The official added that there are surprise operations underway to detect the “illegal” activity of taxi services, and that the criminal justice system has already detained 20 vehicles in that condition.
Stop the river with your hand
The control that the government of the city of Neuquén intends to carry out in relation to the use of the Uber application is a close and simple example of the tensions generated by the emergence of a new technology that completely transforms the status quo.
Uber’s power does not lie in the business lobby or in its global power (without ignoring the fact that both exist).
The main strength of a service like Uber is the power of demand. It is the users themselves who test, use, and choose the application over the traditional service.
The most interesting discussion then does not lie in the defense of written regulations to regulate a market unrelated to new technologies. The relevant debate lies in the reasons that lead the user to prefer Uber. What does Uber contribute as innovation? What is the need it satisfies?
If the traditional taxi service offered the same features as the app, perhaps Uber would not exist. That is what the user detects in an innovation.
A simple review of the features offered by the application shows that Uber allows the user know in advance the name and surname of the driver, the license plate, make and model of the vehicle. Furthermore, informs the user of the price of the trip before requesting it. Besides, anticipates the traveler what the route will beAnd allows share this journey to a third party to follow the vehicle’s journey in real time (an essential tool for mothers or fathers with minor children). To all this we must add the possibility of pay for the trip with any means of payment, including credit cards or virtual wallets. And as if all that were not enough, the service costs two to three times less.
If the traditional taxi offered all these features, the user would most likely choose to travel with their usual taxi driver friend. Not only that, if taxis offered all that, Uber probably would never have existed.
That is precisely where the transformative power of an innovation lies. In the contribution of something new. Something unprecedented, for which there is no standard or regulation, but which at the same time improves the quality of a service and better meets user needs, such that consumer preferences change. There is no regulation that can prevent this dynamic. At least not forever.
Just like someone trying to stop a river with their hand, local legislation that seeks to protect the traditional service, or surprise operations to pursue offenders, will hardly be able to stop the force of innovation and the decision of users for long. .
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