Peru: Transport service union denounces INDECOPI over “barriers to competition” in taxi apps

The most recent resolution issued by the Consumer Protection Commission at Peru’s INDECOPI has brought on criticism over alleged infractions to the Consumer Protection and Defense Code by operators of digital platforms related to transport services, such as Uber or Lyft and similar companies.

“What is evident is that we need more understanding about the digital economy,” said the COMEX union. The union maintained that INDECOPI, in its resolution, does not resolve matters according to what the platform offers, but to what the authority thinks it should offer, presenting an “ideal” standard, when the same Consumer Protection Code requires the opposite. It also questioned whether the platforms should be responsible for the actions of the users who employ them.

“Therefore, the Commission shows a total ignorance of how the models work under digital economy schemes, in addition to going against the regulations contained in the Consumer Protection Code and previous pronouncements by INDECOPI itself, which moves away from the jurisprudence adopted internationally in this matter… The Commission leaves a bad precedent that would affect innovation processes in the digital economy, in practice, it imposes a high barrier of entry to new markets, supported by applications, which harms the consumer…”, the union stated.
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