...UBER UPDATE INTL..
TAXIS JAM BRUSSELS IN PROTEST AGAINST UBER
Hundreds of taxis from across Europe jammed central Brussels on Wednesday 16 September in protest against Uber, closing tunnels and disrupting commuters’ journeys. Taxis drove slowly through the Belgian capital towards Schuman roundabout, which houses the European Union institutions, stopping at major intersections on the way and blocking two main routes. Transport union FGTB-UBT said about 1,200 taxis, hailing from France, Britain, Switzerland, Spain and Portugal, took part in the protest. Police said there were around 400. Taxi drivers say Uber circumvents local regulations on safety, tax and licensing. “They (Uber) pay no charges, they have no social security, they are not even insured for transporting people,” said Paris taxi driver Ben Deniro. Cabbies drove with banners saying: “This is not an illegal taxi” and “No to the ‘uberisa- tion’ of our profession” on their vehicles.
Last month Uber launched its licensed service UberX in Brus- sels, although it said it did not plan on suspending its unli- censed service UberPOP as it has done in Paris.
Taxis jam Brussels in protest against Uber
“Uber is about keeping cities moving - connecting people to safe, reliable and affordable
transport at the tap of a button. These threats, by a small number of taxi drivers, only underline why people are increasingly choosing alter- natives like Uber,” said a spokesman for the company. A survey conducted by Belgian newspaper La Libre, pollster Dedicated and public broadcaster RTBF, showed that only seven per cent of Bel- gians were in favour of banning Uber.
LISBON DRIVER ATTACKED DURING UBER PROTEST
A taxi driver who refused to stop working during a 3,000-strong strike against Uber last month was viciously attacked by those protesting on the streets of Lisbon. Shocking pictures show the man being attacked by numerous other colleagues, who were striking because they feel Uber flouts rules that they must abide by. Taxi drivers also launched eggs at the vehicles of other work- ing drivers during the slow-drive. Three thou- sand cab drivers brought traffic to a crawl on Tuesday 8 Septem- ber in Lisbon and other Portuguese cities as they held the latest in a string of protests world- wide against Uber.
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Uber launched in Lis- bon a year ago but Antral - one of Portu- gal’s main drivers’ associations - earlier this year obtained a civil court ruling preventing the firm from operating nationwide. The ruling was filed against Uber’s US-based, rather than Europe-based, depart- ment.
Antral said some 3,000 taxis joined last month’s go-slow demonstration
Three thousands cab drivers brought traffic to a crawl in Lisbon and other Portuguese cities
in the capital but police put the figure at 700. Parallel protests in the northern city of Porto and Faro in the south drew the support of 800 and 150, Lusa news agency reported.
Antral slammed Uber for ‘illegally’ continuing to operate despite the court ruling. Uber’s head of services in Portugal, Rui Bento, said the firm had appealed the ruling and was awaiting a final decision. The company responded by suspending its lower cost UberPOP service in a country which has restricted its activities. Antral chairman Florencio Almeida insisted the action was justified. “Uber are practising unfair competition with taxis and don’t respect the law,” he said.
DELHI UBER LAWSUIT DROPPED ON TECHNICALITY
A woman who was suing Uber over an alleged rape by a driver in India has withdrawn her lawsuit. The passenger, who reported being raped and beaten after hailing a ride with the Uber driver in Delhi last year, sued the company in a US federal court in January, claiming the com- pany failed to maintain basic safety procedures. According to BBC News, Uber had argued in court filings that the woman sued the wrong corporate entity as the driver had a contract with Uber BV, a Netherlands-based entity with no US operations. The court filing did not disclose any details about how the case was settled, and representa- tives for Uber and the woman both declined to comment.
UBER’S EXPANSION PROMPTS A TAXI STRIKE IN MUMBAI
A taxi strike in India’s second largest city spilled into a second day last month as a powerful union protested the expansion of Uber and other mobile cab-hailing services. The LA Times reports that many of Mum- bai’s familiar black and yellow taxis, known as kaali-peelis, remained off the roads stranding commuters.
The striking union has demanded that the state of Maharashtra, which includes this city of 15 million, ban Uber and Indian competitor, Ola, saying local authorities have allowed the companies to operate without the necessary permits. Indian authorities have largely failed to regulate the fast-growing mobile cab companies, prompting objections from the politically well-connected taxi unions who say the new arrivals are allowed to charge lower prices while not holding the necessary permits. Nitesh Rane, head of the Swabhiman Taxi-Rickshaw Union said: “These people are illegally running on the road, so the state government should come clean on the policy, and at the same time it also needs to secure
OCTOBER 2015
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