El Salvador warns Uber, drivers to cease operations

FILE: Uber (Photo: Uber/Twitter)

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — A top official in El Salvador is warning Uber that the ride-hailing app is operating outside the law and must cease operations, six months after launching in the country.

Transportation Vice Minister Nelson Garcia says Salvadoran law does not provide for that kind of private transportation and new legislation would have to be passed for it to be allowed.

Garcia said Thursday that Uber drivers may have their cars seized, face fines or have their licenses and plates revoked if they don’t comply.

No Uber representative in El Salvador could be located, and there was no immediate response to an email sent to an address for media inquiries at its U.S. headquarters.

Uber launched in El Salvador in May, generating jobs for its drivers but also angering licensed cabbies.