The “big problem” of digital platforms of transportation services that prevents them from being located Y audited is that they are not legally established in the country, which makes it difficult to control their functions and protect users, explained yesterday to Diario Libre Eddy Alcántara, director of the National Institute for the Protection of Consumer Rights (Pro Consumer).
His statement comes after publications in this medium in which he raises a collective problem about the service of drivers associated with digital applicationswho are incurring actions that attack technology companies, directly affecting users.
The reports for the bad service of drivers associated with companies DiDi, Orders Now Y uber They include trips started without a passenger on board, theft of food and articles, reports of unpaid trips, robberies and increased bills.
they collect information
“Since March 2021 we are receiving complaints of consumers who complain about difficulties with services by platforms and, since then, we have tried to establish an open dialogue with the executives of technology companies to find a more effective solution to the irregularities expressed by consumers”, indicated Alcántara.
He highlighted that the Conciliation Department is working on collect the data that arrives “constantly” to resume the requeststo meet with the executives of each company and achieve its legal establishment in the country.
The idea is that the Dominican authorities know who the responsibility will fall on. responsibility of the breaches of intermediary companies for the hiring of taxis and the purchase of items and meals, which could not be summoned due to lack of domicile and legal figure, the official said.
Alcántara reported that his first efforts around the issue of the use of digital channels included encounters with no owners of business to externalize the complaints received through the Claims department.
But the rapprochement served as a channel for small and medium-sized businessmen to externalize some anomalies in the agreements for the transfer of packages. “Food companies also receive claims from their customers for breach of the platforms for deliveries”, he pointed out.
The representation of Uber in the Dominican Republic responded yesterday to the request made last Friday by Diario Libre about its opinion regarding the complaints from customers.
In his response, he highlights the importance of users and drivers rating their experience and reporting any situation regarding their order. “At Uber we constantly work to innovate and improve the user experience through the app, so that it is a satisfactory one. In the event that a user has a situation with their order, on a trip or has lost an object, we invite them to report it through the app, ”says the communication.
inspection
“We have the obligation to be in Contact with the representatives of those companies that, in most cases, are offices of lawyers”, which makes it difficult to create review mechanisms in an attempt to find a solution to a recurring issue, explained Alcántara.
Director of Pro Consumer ensured that the entity has six months developing a strategy to be able to oversee technology companies. For this, it considers it necessary to have the support of the Dominican Institute of Telecommunications (Indotel), for a permit that allows Pro Consumer sanction and summons in the field of use of the communications network.
will be from January 2023 when Pro Consumer Make known the method with which you seek to prevent the current situations reported by users.
“We guarantee that by mid-January we will issue a release in which we are going to explain to the country the mechanisms of execution of a resolution that we will issue and the way in which the enforcement procedures of said resolution will be established, ”said Alcántara.
