Photo: Wikipedia user Guilhem Vellut from Paris, France
Uber has been sanctioned by a French criminal court, and is facing a fine of 800,000 euros (approx. $900,000). The American ride-hailing giant’s UberPOP operations were halted for almost a year now, and the tribunal is sanctioning the company for its activities between February 2014 and July 2015. Two local executives of Uber are also being fined. The charge is running an illegal taxi service.
As most of you know, Uber’s service lets vetted drivers transport passengers without having a cab license. French law forbids this, as do some legislations in Europe.
Initially, Uber fought the situation by paying the penalty every time an UberPOP driver received a sanction for this in France, but the UberPOP service was eventually shut down in the Hexagon.
France is not the only country to ban Uber, as the service is forbidden in Belgium's Capital, Brussels, and in the Netherlands. Taxi drivers in many European countries have protested against Uber for several times, but not all governments took action against the American company.
However, Uber’s policy is getting considerable negative attention from several groups, as its drivers are considered independent contractors and are targeted both by tax agencies in some markets, and other bodies related to norms and regulations for workers. In France, Uber is still operational, but it only employs professional black cab drivers, thus eliminating unfair competition with traditional taxi services.
The two Uber executives from France are being charged with two allegations, Tech Crunch notes. As mentioned above, the first complaint is running an illegal taxi company, while the second is “concealing digital documents.” The latter came because Uber’s French headquarters in Paris were raided in March 2015, but investigators discovered that some documents were missing.
The two executives are considered personally responsible for the actions of UberPOP, and have to pay fines of 30,000 (approximately $34,000) and 20,000 euros (roughly $23,000), respectively. As in the case of the 800,000 euro fine for the company, half of the sanctions mentioned above are suspended sentences.
Initially, Uber fought the situation by paying the penalty every time an UberPOP driver received a sanction for this in France, but the UberPOP service was eventually shut down in the Hexagon.
France is not the only country to ban Uber, as the service is forbidden in Belgium's Capital, Brussels, and in the Netherlands. Taxi drivers in many European countries have protested against Uber for several times, but not all governments took action against the American company.
However, Uber’s policy is getting considerable negative attention from several groups, as its drivers are considered independent contractors and are targeted both by tax agencies in some markets, and other bodies related to norms and regulations for workers. In France, Uber is still operational, but it only employs professional black cab drivers, thus eliminating unfair competition with traditional taxi services.
The two Uber executives from France are being charged with two allegations, Tech Crunch notes. As mentioned above, the first complaint is running an illegal taxi company, while the second is “concealing digital documents.” The latter came because Uber’s French headquarters in Paris were raided in March 2015, but investigators discovered that some documents were missing.
The two executives are considered personally responsible for the actions of UberPOP, and have to pay fines of 30,000 (approximately $34,000) and 20,000 euros (roughly $23,000), respectively. As in the case of the 800,000 euro fine for the company, half of the sanctions mentioned above are suspended sentences.
Google News