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An Uber Service Is Banned in Germany Again An Uber Service Is Banned in Germany Again
(about 2 hours later)
BERLIN — A judge in Frankfurt on Wednesday dealt a strong blow to Uber, ruling that drivers for its ride-hailing service known as UberPop must hold the official permits required of taxi drivers to operate in Germany. The ruling reinstates one of the most severe legal restrictions faced by the company anywhere in the world. BERLIN — A judge in Frankfurt on Wednesday dealt a setback to Uber, ruling that drivers for its ride-hailing service known as UberPop must hold the official permits required of taxi drivers to operate in Germany. The ruling reinstates one of the most severe legal restrictions faced by the company anywhere in the world.
The decision, by Judge Joachim Nickel, overturns a ruling from September that had lifted an injunction against the UberPop service, which had been sought last year by a taxi drivers’ trade group. The decision, by Judge Joachim Nickel, overturns a ruling from September that lifted an earlier injunction against UberPop, which was sought last year by a taxi drivers’ trade group.
Uber operates two other services in Germany and elsewhere in Europe — UberBlack and UberTaxi — that use only professionally licensed drivers. Those services are not affected by Wednesday’s ruling. Uber operates two other services in Germany and elsewhere in Europe — UberBlack and UberTaxi — that use only professionally licensed drivers. Those services are not affected by Wednesday’s ruling, which also ordered that Uber be fined 250,000 euros, or about $265,000, for each violation.
Uber’s services allow drivers to connect with potential passengers using a smartphone application. The company, based in San Francisco, has faced legal challenges across the world since it was founded in 2009. Uber’s services allow drivers to connect with potential passengers using a smartphone application, offering passengers a ride for prices well below those of Germany’s highly regulated taxis. But the company, based in San Francisco, has faced legal challenges across the world since it was founded in 2009, especially in Europe.
Judge Nickel found UberPop to be in violation of Germany’s public transportation act, which requires any service carrying passengers for a fee to be operated by licensed drivers. In France, prosecutors ordered raids this week on Uber’s offices in Paris as part of an investigation into the legality of its services in that country after the French government passed legislation requiring all drivers who carry paying passengers to have a license and appropriate insurance.
Uber said it planned to appeal the ruling. The Frankfurt district court found UberPop to be in violation of Germany’s public transportation act, which requires any service carrying passengers for a fee to be operated by licensed drivers. In his ruling, Judge Nickel said that while a ban on the service posed limitations to the right to employment, the court considered the benefit outweighed this concern.
“We regret today’s interim ruling about UberPop by the Frankfurt District Court,” Fabien Nestmann, the company’s general manager in Munich, said in a statement. Uber had argued that the service was not subject to the same rules as taxis because the company functions as an exchange service that connects drivers with passengers. The company said it planned to appeal the ruling.
“We will now wait to see the court’s reasoning and review it thoroughly,” Mr. Nestmann said. “In our opinion, however, the ban pronounced by the court represents a fundamental infringement, in particular of our right under European law to establish and provide a service.’’ ”We regret today’s interim ruling about UberPop,” said Fabien Nestmann, the company’s general manager in Germany. “We will now wait to see the court’s reasoning and review it thoroughly.”
Uber late last year had lodged a complaint against Germany at the European Commission, the administrative arm of the Europe Union. He continued: ”The ban pronounced by the court represents a fundamental infringement, in particular of our right under European law to establish and provide a service.”
The lawsuit that resulted in Wednesday’s court ruling was brought against the company by Taxi Deutschland, a trade group representing Germany’s taxi drivers, which charged that UberPop had violated completion laws. The group welcomed the ruling on Wednesday. The lawsuit that led to the ruling was brought by Taxi Deutschland, a trade group representing Germany’s taxi drivers, which charged that UberPop had violated competition laws. The group welcomed the ruling on Wednesday.
“The basis of Uber’s business model is in violation of the law,” Dieter Schlenker, the head of Taxi Deutschland, told the daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. ”The basis of Uber’s business model is in violation of the law,” Dieter Schlenker, the head of Taxi Deutschland, told the daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Uber has been seeking to speak with regulators in an effort to adapt existing German transportation laws to technological advances in the recent decade. At the same time, the company has been working to find ways to fit its services to the limits of existing law. It recently launched its UberTaxi service, which uses the Uber smartphone application to call a registered taxi, in the same way as a traditional dispatcher.