 |
| Spanish taxi drivers have staged protests, complaining that Uber flouts local regulations (AFP Photo/GABRIEL BOUYS) |
Brussels
(AFP) - The EU's top court ruled on Wednesday that Uber is an ordinary
transportation company instead of an app and should be regulated as such, in a
decision that is being closely watched around the world.
Hailed by
the plaintiffs -- a Spanish taxi association -- as "a social
victory", the case is yet another thorn in the side for US-based Uber,
which has drawn the fury of taxi drivers and officials for flouting local
regulations.
It also
comes the same week as one of its drivers admitted to the attempted rape and
murder of a British embassy worker coming home from a night out in Beirut,
Lebanon.
"The
service provided by Uber connecting individuals with non-professional drivers
is covered by services in the field of transport," said the
Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice.
"Member
states can therefore regulate the conditions for providing that service."
Uber, the
biggest name in the growing gig economy, claims it is a mere service provider,
connecting consumers with drivers in more than 600 cities.
Uber has
run into huge opposition from taxi companies and other competitors who say this
allows it to dodge costly regulations such as training and licensing
requirements for drivers and vehicles.
The case
was brought by a taxi drivers' association in the Spanish city of Barcelona,
where belief runs high that Uber is a taxi company that should be subject to
rules governing such vehicles.
"This
will truly represent a social victory, and the whole of society will benefit
from this," Ivan Esma, spokesman for the Elite Taxi association, told
reporters, adding that "the road will be long" for the ruling to be
enforced.
Ruling
'won't change things'
Uber said
the ruling would make little difference in practice.
"This
ruling will not change things in most EU countries where we already operate
under transportation law," an Uber spokesperson said in an emailed
statement.
"However,
millions of Europeans are still prevented from using apps like ours."
In a dense
legal judgement, the ECJ said that Uber was a service that connects "by
means of a smartphone application and for remuneration non-professional drivers
using their own vehicle with persons who wish to make urban journeys."
That means
it is "inherently linked to a transport service and, accordingly, must be
classified as a 'service in the field of transport' within the meaning of EU
law."
The EU
court's senior adviser had said in a legal opinion in May that Uber was indeed
a transport company.
Uber has
had a rough ride in Spain, where a judge ruled in 2014 that its UberPop service
risked breaking the law, leading to the Barcelona submission to the ECJ.
Early last
year, it decided to only operate a limited a version of its UberX service in
Spain which uses licensed, professional drivers instead of the amateurs who had
previously worked via the UberPop application.
Uber has
already had problems with the law in several European countries, particularly
France where the company was forced to overhaul its business model.
The French
transport minister, Elisabeth Borne, said the ruling "reinforces the
government's determination" to regulate the sector "in favor of both
the safety of customers, the working conditions of drivers and fair competition
between the players."
In November
a labour court in London, where the company is threatened with losing its
license, said it had to pay the drivers a minimum wage and give them paid
leave.
Uber does
not employ drivers or own vehicles, but instead relies on private contractors with
their own cars, allowing them to run their own businesses.
Licensed
taxi drivers meanwhile often have to undergo hundreds of hours of training, and
they accuse Uber of endangering their jobs by using cheaper drivers who rely
only on a GPS to get around.
The EU's top court rules that Uber is an ordinary transportation company instead of an app and should be regulated as such pic.twitter.com/YswoejzwNz— AFP news agency (@AFP) December 20, 2017
No comments:
Post a Comment