Government to indicate Uber decision today Monday

Published on February 9, 2026

The Minister for Commerce Dr. Ernest Hilaire says the Government of Saint Lucia has not in any way approved, sanctioned or encourage Uber to operate any service in Saint Lucia.

Dr. Hilaire told local journalists that Uber first contacted the government in December indicating that they had an interest in setting up a service in Saint Lucia.

Government indicated then they would be reviewing their intention and would be interested in having discussions with them. Dr. Hilaire revealed that a second note from Uber was sent to Government indicating that there was substantial interest in Saint Lucia from hundreds of taxi driver and five taxi associations and so they would be moving ahead to offer the Uber service in Saint Lucia.

Government again informed Uber that it would first want to discuss the matter with the stakeholder and with Uber.

Government received a third note indicating that the service would be launched anyway. Dr. Hilaire said Government again stressed the need to discuss the matter with stakeholders and Uber and that they should not proceed to launch the service.

Meetings were planned for last week with Uber, the National Taxi Unions, and two already operating locally owned online taxi platforms. The Minister has promised an official government response today Monday.

Dr. Hilaire believes Uber launched its Saint Lucia service prematurely, after Government indicated that it was having consultations with stakeholders.

Dr. Hilaire believes personally that Uber needs to respect national processes.

“If you say, I want to come to your country to set up a business and we say to you, well, let’s go through the process, we’re going to talk to our stakeholders, we’re going to review it and we’ll have discussions, you should respect that”.