UBER battle heats up: Council to vote on possible regulations

The UBER battle is heating up in El Paso. UBER is threatening to leave the Sun City if City Council votes to tighten regulations. Taxi drivers want that to happen. But UBER claims the company is not a taxi service — rather an app that puts passengers in touch with drivers.

City Rep. Cortney Niland posted a survey on Facebook, asking if people in El Paso want to keep UBER. Reaction so far is decidedly one-sided. Nearly 1,300 people have answered in less than 24 hours — and 97 percent said yes.

Niland hopes city council takes that into consideration — when voting on possible regulations.

“I believe it’s premature. and i think at this particular time i think what we should do.. is look toward our state legislators who have said hey, we are going to address this is the next legislative session,” said Niland.

But taxi drivers hope council will regulate UBER.

A revised ordinance would require cab companies and UBER to operate under the same rules.

Niland thinks the best answer may be to deregulate taxis so they can keep up with UBER.

“If it right now is at a point where it is too onerous and the restrictions are too hard for this industry to be competitive, let’s dial it back a little bit,” said Niland.

Council is set to vote on it May 17. Representatives could vote to regulate UBER, not to regulate the company or deregulate cabs.

The take the survey, click here.