JAPAN: Japanese Culture Doesn't Condone Sharing, Airbnb And Uber Struggling

With thousands of Airbnb reservations scrapped and Uber reduced to delivering food, life is hard in Japan for the giants of the sharing economy. They’re stuck between tough regulation and popular suspicion.

Japan may be the world’s third-largest economy and a high-tech hub but it has been surprisingly slow to warm up to the sharing economy that has disrupted markets across the globe.

According to 2016 figures compiled by research institute Yano the sharing economy accounted for ¥50 billion ($455 million) in Japan.

While that’s a 26 percent year-on-year rise, it is a drop in the ocean compared with the Europe, U.S. and China markets, which are worth tens to hundreds of billions of dollars.

This is partly due to confusion among the public about what the sharing economy is: only 2.7 percent of the population are familiar with the concept according to a 2017 survey by PwC professional services firm.

Strict local regulations have also held back the sector ,as flat-sharing firm Airbnb found out recently to its chagrin.

On June 15, a new law came into effect that sought to regulate the short-term rental sector.

Although welcomed by Airbnb as a way to clear up the legal gray zone in which it has been operating, the new law has become somewhat of a double-edged sword, with thousands of owners forced to cast off property after failing to comply with the new requirements.

This stinks and that’s an understatement, fumed Airbnb as it announced it was canceling thousands of reservations with owners who had failed to obtain a registration number by June 15.

In addition, the law prevents owners from renting out properties for more than 180 nights per year and local authorities can impose further restrictions.

In Kyoto for example, the tourist-magnet city sees residential area rentals are only allowed between mid-January and mid-March, when there’s a slump in tourism.

Such restrictions are in effect choking the sector, says Hiroyuki Kishi, a former trade ministry official and now professor at Tokyo’s Keio University.

Vested interests are so strong in Japan, regretting that such measures are coming into force only two years before the Olympic Games when Japan hopes to welcome 40 million tourists.

For Airbnb, the laws seek to protect the hotel industry and ryokans traditional Japanese inns whereas the taxi lobby has made it difficult for ride-sharing app Uber to set up shop in Japan.

To promote the sharing economy, we have to loosen regulations to allow new players to enter the market, said Kishi.

He believes that despite the economical reform efforts of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the government has no intention of opening up the sector for fear of a backlash in sectors which have enjoyed a monopoly until now.

Sharing economy firms have faced pushback elsewhere too, with Uber being accused of skirting regulations and making long-standing jobs obsolete, and Airbnb criticized for pushing up prices and transforming residential areas in many popular tourist destinations.

In Japan, public opinion is very much against services like Airbnb and Uber.

We have tried to change this mentality but it is very difficult. It takes time,one Taxi operator says.

One reason is that Japanese are very protective of their privacy.

The culture of sharing is not ingrained in society and in the case of Airbnb, they do not like the noise and security risk caused by a procession of tourists in their backyard, he said.

In addition, unlike in many developed economies, the quality of service is very high in Japan.

Hailing a taxi in a major city rarely takes more than a few seconds, lowering demand for Uber-type services.

Despite this bleak picture, there are some successes, notes Sabetto, with younger generations showing a greater interest in the sharing economy.

Car and bike sharing schemes are taking off and meal delivery service UberEATS has been a hit in Tokyo since arriving in 2016.

But local startups struggle to stay financially afloat, Sabetto said, in a country that tends to pride monozukuri or craftsmanship above innovation.

Some firms are moving away from the cities into the countryside, where a steady trend of depopulation has made the sharing economy more attractive.

Uber last month said it would launch a pilot program this summer to hook up tourists and residents with available drivers in the western Awaji island.

But Sabetto said a change in culture was needed for the sharing economy to really take root.

I would like foreigners that are aware of the sharing economy to make their voice heard more to change the situation, he said.


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MEXICO: Drug Peddlers Now Disguise As UberEats To Distribute To Clients

Ten people were arrested and charged in Mexico City for allegedly distributing drugs disguised as UberEats delivery guys in some of the city’s most fashionable and artsy neighborhoods.

In the operation, which involved some 200 agents, authorities raided a warehouse and confiscated approximately 660 pounds of marijuana.

UberEats is a Uber application that allows users to order food from a cell phone. Depending on the city, people can sign up to deliver food orders using their car, bike, scooter, or on foot.

The false delivery men netted in Mexico City rode bicycles carrying the distinctive UberEats bags to go unnoticed.

According to police, the alleged dealers easily bought the bags online and targeted the Zone Rosa, Polanco and La Condesa, which is home to many foreigners.

Uber issued a statement denying any responsibility and making the company available to the justice system.

Uber condemns any act that threatens the health or safety of people, the statement read, as quoted by Debate.

We are willing to collaborate with the authorities in their investigation.

UberEats started operations in Mexico City in October of last year, with more than 500 restaurants affiliated to the service.

Like any large corporation that responds to a sagging line of revenue, the Mexican cartels who control the border have replaced a decline in human smuggling with an increase in drug smuggling.

They need to make their profits somewhere, says Border Patrol Agent Marlene Castro, overlooking the Rio Grande in South Texas.

They were making so much money from human trafficking. Now that's at a near all-time low, so they're trying to make money on narcotics marijuana, meth and cocaine."

While the trend is border-wide, it is more pronounced in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas than most sectors. The smuggling of Central American families fell from roughly 15,000 a month before Trump’s election to less than 1,000 today.

At the same time, seizures of heroin since January are up 177 percent, cocaine 129 percent and methamphetamine up 150 percent, according Border Patrol figures.

We have seen narcotics come in disguised as carrots, mangos, limes, watermelons. They will take advantage of whatever is there," says Frank Longoria, Field Operations Assistant Director for U.S. Customs & Border Protection in Laredo.

They will smuggle in gas tanks, then shift to milk containers, shampoo bottles. They adjust, we adjust.

For the most part, marijuana still moves between the ports of entry, most typically in trucks or backpacks hauled by illegal immigrants who do it to help pay their smuggling fee.

By contrast, 81 percent of high-value narcotics like heroin, meth and cocaine move through the ports of entry.

To stop that, Customs and Border Protection uses dogs and scanners to find the drugs hidden in tires, and freshly welded traps under the chassis of vehicles and trucks passing through.

Last week, officers at the Hidalgo International Bridge intercepted a load of liquid methamphetamine valued at $3.8 million hidden in the gas tank of 2008 Chevy Silverado.

Two days prior, Border Patrol agents stopped a Ford F-150 pickup with 200 pounds of meth valued at $8 million at a checkpoint less than 30 miles away.

Because of the money involved, Chief Patrol agent Raul Ortiz says, We have seen an increase in assaults on agents across the border.

While the president's budget proposal does add more manpower and infrastructure, the cartels have also upped their game, replacing radios with encrypted phones and trucks with drug delivery drones.

On one hand, existing barriers have forced the smugglers to funnel their narcotics through the checkpoints, but they've resorted to tunnels and even catapults to send narcotics over the border.

They're looking for revenue and right now they don't have the illegal immigrants, so they're looking for other ways to make money, says Columbia University professor Christopher Sabatini.

Again there is a problem on the U.S. side that there's a demand for these drugs and we have to recognize that.

U.S. drug users drive demand. Mexico provides more than 90 percent of the illegal drugs entering the U.S., including the synthetic heroin that is helping kill more than 100 users a day by overdose.

The drug, known as fentanyl and its super potent cousin fentanyl-C, are manufactured in Mexico's Golden Triangle, less than 300 miles from the Texas border.

Hungry Londoners,With UberEats Order A Range Of Lunch And Dinner Options Straight To Your Door

Lucky Londoners can get their hands on a free box of croissants this morning, thanks to UberEats and Paul.

Uber's joined the breakfast club, adding a breakfast menu from several restaurants to its food delivery service.

Purveyor of pastries Paul will be one of the six restaurants delivering a morning pick me up to Londoners in Zones 1 and 2, along with Leon, Bagel Factory, Tossed, Coco di Mama and Crepeaffaire.

"We are incredibly excited to announce breakfast on the UberEats app across London. Since UberEats launched last summer we have seen Londoners ordering a range of lunch and dinner options straight to their door at the tap of a button. The launch of breakfast is the next step for UberEats as we continue to respond to ever-growing consumer demand," said general manager Toussaint Wattinne.

The service, a rival to homegrown Deliveroo and Amazon Restaurants, plans to expand the breakfast platter across the capital soon, with more restaurants and locations.

Hungry Londoners can get their hands on the freebies between 8am and 11am, though be warned, there is some seriously high demand. Quite understandably.

SINGAPORE: uberPOOL Grows In Singapore

Those who have travelled to places like Los Angeles and New York in recent years may have come across a service called uberPOOL, an option within the Uber app that allows you to share your journey with strangers to reduce the cost of your trip. You save around 25% on your journey, with the only downside being occasional delays as you pick up another uberPOOL rider.

It first launched in San Francisco in August 2014, before expanding to cities like LA, New York, Boston, London and Paris. Already, uberPOOL accounts for 20% of all Uber rides around the world. Just take a look at the large number of cities to get their hands on the service so far:

US & Canada: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, Washington DC
Mexico: Mexico City
Brazil: Sao Paulo
France: Paris
China: Beijing, Changsha, Chengdu, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Ningbo, Qingdao, Shanghai, Shenzen, Suzhou, Tianjin, Wuhan
UK: London
India: Bangalore, New Delhi

This month, the service continued its international roll out, with the focus now on South East Asia, a region which has already adopted similar services like GrabHitch, launched in Singapore and Malaysia in November 2015. Earlier this month, UberPool made its debut in Manila, while Jakarta got it last month. Singapore is next on the list, with the service set to launch tomorrow – July 1st.

So what about Australia? Though no plans have been officially announced, the South East Asia expansion would suggest that Australia will be next on their list. It was reported all the way back in September 2014 that the service was eyeing Sydney, and the Daily Telegraph reported in February of this year that Sydney’s uberPOOL services weren’t far off.

While we wait for the carpooling service to launch, however, Australia has had plenty of other updates: Last week, Uber launched service to Canberra Airport, finally introduced Uber X to Adelaide in May (with unlimited free rides to roll it out) and has been rolling out the popular UberEATS around the country. Here’s hoping uberPOOL is soon added to the list. But in the meantime, our friends in South East Asia have the new service to enjoy!

UNITED KINGDOM: UberEATS Available In London, After Paris.

Uber Technologies Inc., demonstrating its global ambitions extend beyond just giving customers a ride, is expanding its food delivery business in Europe.

The car-hailing company introduced UberEATS in London today, the second European city where it’s available after Paris. Several U.S. cities also have the program.

Uber has been aggressively expanding around the world as it attempts to add users and justify its lofty $62.5 billion (U.S.) ($81.7 billion Canadian) valuation. CEO Travis Kalanick sees food delivery as a natural extension for the network of cars and drivers already on the road giving people rides.

UberEATS is a stand-alone app allowing customers to order food from different local restaurants. The design is similar to Uber’s ride-hailing app and shows customers the status of their order so it can be tracked as it’s being prepared and the driver is en route. When the service opened at lunchtime today in London, customers could order a “Green Dream Smoothie” for £5 ($9 Canadian dollars), burrito for £6 or a king prawn pasta for £9, all from different local outlets. In London, it will be available from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Customers can also order from Ubereats.com.

Uber joins a crowded food-delivery market. Companies including Deliveroo and GrubHub Inc. have been available in London for some time, and competition is intensifying across Europe.

London is an enticing market for food delivery because of the dense and affluent population. Amazon Fresh, the e-commerce company’s grocery delivery business, opened in the capital last week. Meanwhile, investors have been pouring money into meal delivery startups. London-based Deliveroo raised $100 million (U.S.) last year and Foodpanda raised $210 million. Many of these companies, including Deliveroo, JustEat and GrubHub, have blanketed the city with aggressive marketing to lure new customers.

“People love being able to push a button to book a car and now they can order great food with us too,” said Jo Bertram, Uber’s regional general manager in the U.K. “We’ll bring lunch, treats and dinner to Londoners with the same choice, convenience and value we’re already known for.”