Uber

Uber Parks its Service in Morocco

The North African country is the latest where the ride-sharing service runs headlong into opponents and a lack of regulations.

By Zakiyyah Chism ContributorMarch 19, 2018, at 10:23 a.m.

U.S. News & World Report

Uber Parks its Service in Morocco

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Taxi drivers check the Uber app as they wait for customers in Casablanca, Morocco.(FADEL SENNA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

CASABLANCA, MOROCCO — For Uber driver Mohamed Amine, picking up a customer at Casablanca's main train station meant entering a danger zone. He strategically parked his black Renault down the street to avoid detection, and then contacted his passenger by phone and gestured them toward the car.

Getting it wrong could mean finding himself swarmed by taxis, whose angry drivers claim Uber is illegal and taking away their livelihood. In the worst case, he could be roughed up or have his vehicle confiscated by police.

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Uber launched in Casablanca three years ago and expanded last year to Rabat, two of more than 600 cities in the world where the car-sharing service is available. Since then, 300 regular drivers have served thousands of customers in Morocco. But in late February, Uber announced that it was suspending operations in the North African kingdom because of "regulatory uncertainties."

Morocco joins other global markets in which Uber has run into trouble with regulators or competitors. In Denmark, it was the result of new taxi regulations that required, among other things, fare meters. The U.K. capital of London cited Uber's "lack of corporate responsibility." In Jordan, taxi drives are suing because of a loss of income. Hong Kong arrested 21 Uber drivers on charges of violating car hire and insurance regulations.

Here, experts say, Uber attracted customers who would otherwise use regular taxis, increasing pressure on taxi drivers already at the mercy of entrenched business interests who own the taxi licenses. Meanwhile, the Moroccan government failed to issue rules or pass legislation clarifying the status of ride-sharing services.

Uber said in a statement that despite suspending its service in the country, it wanted to be in Morocco and would relaunch when new rules are in place.

Uber is not at fault for the problems it faces in Morocco, says Hicham El Moussaoui, a professor of economics at Sultan Moulay Slimane University in Beni-Mellal, a few hours from Casablanca. High demand for the service is a reflection of a new digital age to which the old system can't seem to adapt, he says.

Casablanca taxi drivers and unions appealed to government ministries and the governor of Casablanca to ban Uber and Careem, another car-sharing service popular in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. There were threats against Uber and Careem drivers and assaults, including of a female Careem driver by a group of taxi drivers last year.

Amine, 35, drove a regular taxi for 10 years before switching to Uber.

"When I found Uber, I saw it as flexible and organized, and I was not working like a dog the whole day," he says. "I have kids to feed. We have to do what we have to do to take care of our families."

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Amine ran into occasional problems with the police, but retains a taxi driver permit that provides some protection. Those without a permit are more likely to get in trouble, including having their cars confiscated.

The convenience of Uber proved particularly popular with foreigners and young, Westernized Moroccans. Younes Saj Bouzemane, 36, a regular Uber customer and financial controller of a pipeline company, says he liked the service because he didn't have to wait on the street and flag down a taxi, only to be told the driver wouldn't take him because his destination wasn't on their route.

On the other side of the divide between taxi and Uber drivers, Mastafa Chaaban, 43, also is doing what he needs to do to make a living. He regards driving a taxi as a job, but also as his hobby and a "badge of honor." However, there is no social safety network for taxi drivers – no health insurance and no social security.

"When we get sick we spend from our pockets," he says.

A taxi license in Morocco is granted by the government, sometimes as a sign of official favor to someone not involved in the business, who can then use it to earn income. Many drivers rent the licenses from the owners.

From a daily income of between $35 and $40, a driver might need to pay the license owner $270 or more a month, plus insurance and maintenance, Chaaban says. Drivers often are uncertain whether the license owner eventually will end the agreement and offer it to someone else.

Faced with that kind of competitive pressure, Chaaban sometimes took part in missions to trap Uber drivers like Amine.

"We have Uber installed on our phones," he says. "We request rides, and once the car comes we surround it with our taxis right after the customer gets in. After my work hours, I usually go near a hotel and request an Uber. Then ask my friends to come and trap them."

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Abderrachim Amaayach, 57, a member of the Democratic Federation of Labor, which represents taxi drivers and other workers, argues that Uber didn't have government authorization to operate. "It is non-governmental and unregulated."

Before pulling the plug in Morocco, Uber had been planning to expand to cities such as Marrakesh and Tangier, says Meryem Belqziz, general manager of its Morocco operations. Uber was a great opportunity for drivers, she says, adding that the resistance came from those who profit from keeping things as they are.

Instead of Uber, El Moussaoui says, traditional taxi drivers should turn their ire on the government for allowing a system that perpetuates a "world of servitude."

Morocco's regulatory response to Uber was slowed by long negotiations over formation of a new government after elections in October 2016. The new government finally was named last April, but there still are no decisions regarding the car-sharing service.

For Uber to really engage in unfair competition would mean that it is in "violation of some laws or regulations" put in place by the government, says El Moussaoui.

"However, in Morocco today there is a legal vacuum, since there is no specific legislation for this type of activity," he says. "As a result, Uber cannot be accused of being outside a law that has yet to be worked out."