Cozumel, Q.R. — The announcement of an additional 16 peso fee to non-residents to use the ferry service from Playa del Carmen to Cozumel will not be applied.
The new fee, which was supposed to take effect January 1, has not been approved for the Playa del Carmen-Cozumel ferry crossing.
The ruling was announced by local deputies of the Finance and Municipal Affairs Commission, for which they say, Cozumel will only charge this Right to Sanitation fee in hotels, the same as in other municipalities.
The decision, says deputy Fernando Zelaya, was made after objections by the ferry companies who claimed the collection of the fee was unconstitutional, a claim later confirmed by deputy Jesus Zetina Tejero.
He explained that Cozumel will only be able to charge the new Right to Sanitation fee through hotels, however, non-residents crossing to Isla Mujeres will still be charged the crossing fee.
Zelaya noted that while Isla Mujeres tourists cross because they already have hotel reservations or a package purchased, in the case of Cozumel, visitors to the island are those who have arrived in Riviera Maya and are attracted to the island. He says they just decide to go and are more fickle toward an additional charge.
Emiliano Ramos Hernández, president of the Finance Commission defended the charge, which is similar to the one applied in Isla Mujeres, indicating that the municipality require resources, noting that the charge was aimed at tourists, not local citizens.
