Buquebús and Colonia Express, the two
shipping companies providing regular passenger services between Argentina and
Uruguay, announced this week that they planned to challenge President Luis Lacalle Pou's decree creating a US$ 2.56
surcharge for passengers arriving or leaving at the ports of Colonia and
Montevideo.
According to the measure, starting in
May this year all tickets sold by both companies for travel in February 2025.
The
same “Security Service Fee” would also be applied to cruise ship passengers.
The Uruguayan government seeks to
finance with this collection a state-of-the-art immigration control system. Local tour operators on the Uruguayan
side view the initiative as a deterrent once the activity is recovering from
the Covid-19 pandemic recession. They claim that such a surcharge would
have a negative effect on Argentine travelers given the disparity in the
currency exchange rate.
Lawyer Julio Facal, who represents the
Chamber of Tourism as well as Colonia Express, told La Diaria that his company
and also Buquebús planned to file an appeal of unconstitutionality against
Lacalle Pou's decree. “Both companies are going in the same direction: to file
an appeal against the decree without eradicating other types of actions, such
as an injunction.”
In
Facal's view, the surcharge is a tax “disguised as a burden and cost to a
single activity, instead of distributing it proportionally among all the
individuals that pass through the border crossings.”
“It is an essential service that should
be provided by the State. I do not choose to go through a border crossing, they
cannot charge only the two river companies a kind of service fee that is not
given. It is a specific fee to finance a cost that is a service that the State
must provide,” he went on.
Facal said that the measure was
tantamount to charging only thieves to keep the police operational. A toll “is to improve a road,” while in
this case “they charge for something that the State must do” in any case and
with no benefit for the user. “We understand that it is unconstitutional
because setting it by decree cannot be done, it should be done by law. It has
doubtful legality,” the lawyer insisted.
.
Tags: Buquebus,
Colonia Express,
COVID-19,
Luis Lacalle Pou.