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Category: Activism and Lobbying / Law, Crime and Justice / Road Transport / Courts and Trials

Uber to pay 1.2 million euros to French taxi group amid protests

Wednesday, 27 Jan 2016 21:23:57

Taxi drivers protesting against Uber burn tires on the Paris ring road. (AFP: Thomas Samson)

App-based taxi firm Uber has been ordered to pay 1.2 million euros ($1.85 million AUD) to a French taxi group by a Paris court, according to court documents seen by AFP.

The payment to the National Union of Taxis (UNT) followed a complaint that Uber drivers were acting as traditional taxis — waiting in the street in the hope of picking up passengers.

The ruling comes on a second consecutive day of large-scale protests by taxi drivers angry over the impact of Uber, which Paris dispatchers said had taken up to a third of their business.

Uber France was accused by the UNT of being "ambiguous" in its communications with drivers about the rules for private hire cars, which under French law are supposed to head back to their garages after each fare, rather than park or circulate on public roads.

Uber denied the charges, saying it "regularly informs" its drivers of the need to return to their garages after a journey.

Despite a year-old ban on Uber's low-cost UberPOP service which links customers to unlicensed private drivers, taxi dispatchers in Paris said business had shrunk 20 to 30 per cent.

The controversial ride-sharing service Uber is estimated to have recruited 2 million drivers around the world by the end of last year, according to its chief executive Travis Kalanick.

AFP

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