Ride Hailing Regulations in Cali, Colombia: Towards Autonomous and Decent Work
In this article we explore the decent work standard developed by Richard Heeks for digital online labour markets and use a review of empirical research about ride-hailing to adapt this framework to the location-based service delivery market. The framework
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Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, Canada [email protected] Universidad Torcuato Di Tella, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Abstract. In this article we explore the decent work standard developed by Richard Heeks for digital online labour markets and use a review of empirical research about ride-hailing to adapt this framework to the location-based service delivery market. The framework is then tested against an in-depth analysis of informality and precarity in the ride hailing sector in Cali, Colombia. Findings show that location-based platform workers in Cali lack many decent work protections. However, the case study also demonstrates that workers are evolving creative ways to grapple with specific aspects of precarity within the ride-hailing sector. Based on this analysis, we argue that policy analysis and worker innovations need to ‘meet in the middle’ rather than follow policy recommendations emanating from other jurisdictions. We suggest some specific policy reforms that will be appropriate to the Colombian and Latin American context. Keywords: Decent work
Platform economy Ride hailing Colombia
1 Introduction The digital platform economy is rapidly reorganizing the activities of businesses, workers and consumers alike [40], and policy makers are often forced to introduce policy solutions before the full implications of new business models are realized and understood [15]. In particular, the platform economy offers greater flexibility to workers, and the possibility to ‘be your own boss.’ However, this informality may worsen or introduce new forms of precarity among workers in ways that are not currently well understood. Indeed, the platform economy challenges definitions of informality and precarity and therefore renders standard policy responses obsolete. Meanwhile, if policy interventions are to be successful, policy makers need to take into consideration workers’ adaptations to their rapidly changing context [42]. With this in mind, this paper applies Heeks’ [19] decent work standard for platform labour to the ride hailing sector in Cali Colombia. Since Heeks’ standard was designed for online platform labour, we use a literature review to adapt it to the ‘location-based service delivery’ market, paying particular attention to the ride-hailing sector, which includes Uber, Lyft, 99Taxis or Easy Taxi. The framework is then used to assess informality and precarity in the ride hailing sector in Cali, Colombia. Results show that workers are developing creative solutions to address precarity or improve opportunity © IFIP International Federation for Information Processing 2019 Published by Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 P. Nielsen and H. C. Kimaro (Eds.): ICT4D 2019, IFIP AICT 551, pp. 425–435, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18400-1_35
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K. M. A. Reilly and L. H. Lozano-Paredes
within the ride-hailing sector. We suggest how Colombian and Latin American policy can take these findings into account to produce appropriate regulatory frameworks.
2 Emerging Decent Work Standards for the Digital Ec
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