Concept in Definition ABC

Uber, the service hiring of private cars with a driver, similar to the taxi, but whose original concept was that they were amateurs (understanding taxi drivers as professionals) without a license who offered the service, not only has partially revolutionized the economic model of services, but has generated great controversy in several senses.

Taxi drivers view Uber drivers as professional intruders who operate by offering taxi services. transport unlicensed in a heavily regulated environment, but they are not the only ones to complain about this new business model.

The tax authorities also see a problem in an activity that is carried out, as in the case of AirBnB (another service that “uberizes” the rental of housing), taxes on other countries that offer a better tax regime, so the company providing the service can pay less tax and does not contribute in many of the countries where it does collect money for its coffers.

The “uberization” of services is, for some, the revolution in the way in which they are offered, in a way that is known as the collaborative economy, while that for others are the precariousness of these, with garbage contracts that imply many hours of work for a low salary, and a flight of taxes towards paradises prosecutors.

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Although the name of this trend in technology business derives directly from the company Uber, perhaps the most successful in this type of technological ventures, there are thousands of exponents of this way of doing things, another famous company being the aforementioned AirBnB.

A differential feature of the uberization is that it is a business model that claims to make the provision of a specific service available to anyone, and not only to professionals in the sector.

In the specific case of Uber, this service is the transport service. It is not necessary to have a taxi license or be a driver professional To sign up as an Uber driver, anyone with a car can do it.

Thus, one may wonder: "And how do I assess the ability of one of these drivers?”Very simple: with another feature of this type of service, the evaluations and comments of your previous clients.

Both Uber and AirBnB or the other services that use a model uberized, allow users of their service to rate and comment on the work of those who provide it, thus establishing a sort of ranking and making the clients themselves act as “inspectors” of the personnel they use to provide the service.

Another defining characteristic uberization is that the economic transactions carried out to pay for the service are carried out within the framework of the same delivery platform.

This implies that traditional payment systems are rarely used, being the new forms of payment such as Paypal among others, the most used, although it remains margin for payment with credit cards, but the money is always managed electronically.

This makes it easier for said money to go to accounts in countries other than those where the service is provided.

Over time, it has been seen that these "different countries" are actually tax havens, or countries that, without receiving this denomination, present a more lax taxation for companies, as is the case of Ireland.

The uberization It has also brought the fear that the professions in which this model enters into will disappear.

In the case of Uber, taxi drivers fear that their volume business, which results in a precariousness of their conditions (they have to work harder to earn same as before, or not even manage to achieve it), and that also ends up leading to loss of positions of job.

On the other hand, the defenders of the model refer to a reinvention of the sector, to its democratization (in the specific case of taxis, they cite the strong regulation of the sector as something unwanted by most people and harmful to the free market), and to various social benefits, as the equality opportunities to access to work in these sectors.

The companies that provide the service uberized They do not hire the person who ends up providing it, nor do they own the object of the service.

For example, those who advertise as drivers on the Uber platform do not officially do so as company employees, but rather their relationship is like a freelance that he charges strictly for the services rendered, and not with a fixed salary.

Uber also does not own the cars with which the services are provided (at least, not until recently, although the company is now taking over a fleet of vehicles in some places); AirBnB does not own the rooms that can be hired through its service, nor does it hire those who treat you in them (unlike hotels).

In order to enter heavily regulated sectors, companies that make use of the uberization they tend to take advantage of loopholes or act in an area that is not clear.

This has meant that public administrations have been slow to react to the challenge that these new initiatives entail, and when they have done so they have usually been favorable to the “old order".

In the case of Uber -as well as in that of AirBnB- various adverse judgments have been handed down to the company that move away from being able to provide services as it has been doing so far in different cities of the world, but in general the Justice it has taken years to pass sentences, and it has not been done everywhere.

The next sector likely to be uberized it is that of financial services, a process that has in fact already begun but in a slower way.

Although the model with which the uberization will take the financial sector by storm It will not fully adhere to the basic fees, it will contain many of the same elements (obviously, it will not be just anyone who will be able to set up a Bank...).

Companies like Paypal or the birth and success of Bitcoin, give us ideas of where the shots can go.

Photos: Fotolia - frol / nyul

Topics in Uberization