The fast expanding ride-sharing service Uber is facing pressure from local authorities and taxi drivers in major cities, most recently in The Hague, New Delhi and Portland.
Uber has expanded at breakneck speed since it launched in 2009 and is now present in more than 200 cities across 45 countries.
But its rapid growth has caused tensions, especially in Europe where rival taxi companies have protested that Uber cars are not subject to the same regulations.
Dutch judges on Monday banned the U.S. company from taking bookings via its smartphone app, threatening it with fines of up to 100,000 euros ($123,000).
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Supporters of Aam Aadmi (Common Man) Party hold placards during a protest after a woman was allegedly raped by a taxi driver in New Delhi on Monday. (AP-Yonhap) |
A court ordered Uber to stop its UberPOP service, which allows nonprofessional drivers to register with Uber via a mobile phone and offer trips in their own cars at half the price of a regular cab.
“Drivers who transport people for payment without a license are breaking the law,” said the decision from the Hague-based Trade and Industry Appeals Tribunal.
Uber could be fined up to 100,000 euros, and drivers could face fines from 10,000 euros to 40,000 euros for continuing to work.
A defiant Uber reacted in a statement by saying it “will continue to offer UberPOP.”
Monday’s decision “is simply the first step in a long-running judicial battle,” the San Francisco-based company added.
UberPOP is one of several services offered by the online taxi startup, which appealed a Dutch government decision in September to have it banned.
Uber said that it was merely offering a “car-sharing service.”
But the judges sided with government on Monday, pointing out that Uber receives a 20 percent commission for each trip.
Uber launched UberPOP as a pilot project in Amsterdam between July and September.
The Indian capital on Monday banned Uber after a woman accused one of its drivers of raping her.
Transport official Satish Mathur made the announcement as the 32-year-old suspect appeared in a New Delhi court.
The court ordered Shiv Kumar Yadav held for three days for police questioning over allegations that he raped the finance company employee after being hired to ferry her home from a dinner engagement on Friday night. The court also ordered Yadav’s cellphone confiscated, according to Press Trust of India.
The case, almost two years after a young woman was fatally gang-raped on a bus in the capital, has renewed national anger over sexual violence in India and demands for more efforts to ensure women’s safety.
The CEO of Uber, Travis Kalanick, said the company would do “everything to bring the perpetrator to justice and to support the victim and her family in her recovery.”
He also sought to deflect some of the blame on to officials, saying the company would work with the government to establish clear background checks that are “currently absent in their commercial transportation licensing programs.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. city of Portland, Oregon, has sued Uber, saying it was operating illegally, officials said Monday.
The suit also asked the court to order the service to stop operating in Portland until it is in compliance with city rules.
“Uber is subject to and in violation of the city of Portland’s Private for Hire Transportation Regulations and Administrative Rules,” the suit said.
Uber is the most prominent of many new smartphone-dependent car services seen as bypassing strict regulations faced by licensed cab drivers.
“Our main concern is public health and safety, because the state invested in the cities the responsibility to do that,” Mayor Charlie Hales said.
A tribunal in Paris, France, will decide on Friday whether Uber’s services constitute unfair competition to traditional taxi drivers.
(From news reports)
