France’s interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve has ordered a ban on Uber’s French arm, UberPOP, after a day of protests by taxi drivers.
French taxi drivers argue that they are being unfairly undercut by Uber. Cab driver in France must pay thousands of pounds a year in licence fees, and say that they have lost between 30% and 40% of their income over two years because of the growth of UberPOP.
“Many taxis drivers are infuriated,” Abdelkader Morghad, a representative of the FTI taxi union, told Bloomberg today.
UberPOP has been illegal in France since January, however the law has proved difficult to enforce. Uber say they will keep running the service until a judgment is handed down from France’s highest court.
Uber spokesman Thomas Meister said the firm had contested the law under which UberPOP has been ruled illegal, and accused the interior minister of overriding the normal legal process.
