Taxi
agency Uber has reached a €2.025m out of court settlement with the Dutch public
prosecution office for operating its illegal UberPop service in the Netherlands
in 2014 and 2015.
The UberPop option allows private individuals to operate as
taxis, but this is illegal under Dutch law.
The company has also agreed to hand
over the €309,409 it earned from UberPop and the person responsible for the
service in the Netherlands has accepted a 90 hour community service sentence,
the public prosecution department said.
‘A taxi licence is intended to ensure
the safety of the customer,’ the department said in a statement. ‘A licence
also imposes requirements on the vehicles, such as an on-board computer in the
car, that makes it possible to check drivers’ driving and rest times.’
In
addition, the department said, providing taxi services without a licence
creates unfair competition.
Uber launched UberPop in the Netherlands in July
2014 but finally suspended the service in November 2015 after several court cases and fines. The ban was finally upheld by the company court in 2017.
Uber
now only operates in the Netherlands with licenced drivers. ‘Today is an
important day for us,’ the company said in an emailed statement. ‘This
settlement allows us to formally close this chapter, shows we have learned from
our mistakes and have changed as an organisation.’
Deaths
Uber has also
recently been under fire in Amsterdam after four fatal road accidents in six
weeks involving Uber drivers.
The company later announced that people under 21
would be banned from working for it, and that all of its drivers would have a
minimum of one year’s driving experience.
In addition, young Uber drivers now
have to follow an obligatory driving course with road safety body VVN before
they can start.
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