Colombia fines Uber more than $629,000 for obstructing inspections

BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombia’s trade regulator said on Monday it would fine ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Inc over $629,000 for obstructing a regulatory visit in 2017.

Uber has repeatedly drawn the ire of authorities in Colombia, where use of the service is widespread but illegal.

The country has not specifically regulated ride-hailing services like Uber, but has said it will suspend the licenses of drivers caught working on the platform for 25 years.

The fine imposed by the Superintendent of Industry and Trade states that Uber is urging employees not to provide information to regulators and blocking access to company computers. The regulator found that these policies were implemented during a visit in October 2017.

“The company has demonstrated disrespect and obstruction in the face of various information requirements from officials,” the regulator said in a statement.

Uber said in a statement that it had not been officially informed of the penalty but would review it as soon as it was imposed.

The fine also named three Uber employees, giving them individual fines ranging from $1,469 to $7,344.

Two legal staff and one manager “cooperated and caused obstruction of the said administrative visit and failure to comply with orders and instructions issued by the Forest Department,” the statement said.

“It was also proven that these individuals made evasive and incomplete statements regarding their roles and functions in the company and their knowledge of Uber Colombia’s corporate structure,” he added.

In July, Colombia ordered Uber to improve data security in response to a 2016 breach that compromised the data of 267,000 Colombians.

(Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb; additional reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; editing by Leslie Adler)