KINGSTON, Jamaica— The Minister of Transport, Daryl Vaz has announced a ban on the increasingly popular ridesharing or ride-hailing apps with immediate effect.

The ban comes a day after the police announced that remains they discovered in Salt River, Clarendon on Monday, are believed to be those of missing St Peter Claver Primary and Infant School teacher, Danielle Anglin.

READ: Skeletal remains believed to be of missing teacher found in Clarendon

The school teacher went missing on May 13 while on her way to school from her Hellshire, St Catherine home, where she had reportedly chartered a cab via a ridesharing app.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Fitz Bailey, has revealed that the suspect believed to be responsible for Anglin’s kidnapping and subsequent murder was arrested back in 2015 on sexual assault charges. He also lamented that the lack of communication between the police and rideshare companies “poses a serious challenge to our investigative efforts”.

READ: WATCH: Suspect in teacher’s disappearance previously arrested for sexual assault

Vaz announced the ban while making his contribution to the 2024/25 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives Tuesday afternoon.

The minister said he was moved to act after being written to by a senior member of the police force.

Said Vaz: “My recommendation as of today, which will obviously have to be vetted for legal purposes, is that a ban on all of those ridesharing apps (be implemented) with immediate effect until such time as we can come to the table and work out properly, how these apps will be regulated in terms of making sure safety, background checks of the drivers are done not only by the rideshare apps but by the Jamaican authorities – the police or the Transport Authority”.

“I make no apologies; I have a responsibility as a minister and an elected representative to protect the lives of the people,” he added.

He pointed out that the tragic news relating to the missing teacher was just one of several cases that the police have as evidence that these ridesharing apps have been used for criminal activities.

Vaz told the House that “The government is not opposed to it (ridesharing apps); however, we’re adamant that the ride-hailing services must operate within the ambit of the law”.

The transport minister shared that he has sought to engage the ridesharing providers, both locally and internationally, to streamline their operations within the regulatory regime.

“I want to publicly state that the only overseas provider that has indicated their willingness to operate within the legal framework is Uber,” he disclosed.

“I summoned them and they came from corporate office (in the United States) to Jamaica to sit down with me and the team to have a discussion”.

Vaz said those talks are ongoing and the Transport Authority will be meeting with the local ride-hailing entities this week.

“In-Drive remains outstanding,” he said while stating that in addition to the government’s concerns about safety and security in the current environment, “there are issues related to undercutting in the market where lower fares that are charged that impacts on tourism, the economy in general and the threat of other issues such as money laundering and terrorism”.

Vaz said he has written to the telecom providers “on a letter from the assistant or deputy commissioner of police indicating the concerns for national safety, to discuss this very matter because of the complaints that I was getting from commuters and also from industry players who’re playing by the rules and pay their fees for their licence etc, and these apps are undercutting them both in fare, without any form of background checks and no monitoring by the Transport Authority”.