Top European court says Uber is a taxi service

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The European Court of Justice (ECJ), the EU's highest court, ruled earlier this week that Uber is a taxi service, as opposed to a technology platform, The New York Times reports.

The court's ruling means the ride-hailing giant must comply with local laws governing taxi services throughout the EU, most of which require cab companies to employ full-time, professional drivers, and pay them salaries and benefits. The case arose from a complaint brought by Elite Taxi, a union of taxi drivers in Barcelona, Spain. Uber had been operating its UberPop service, which links nonprofessional drivers with riders through the company's mobile app, in the city, and the union claimed it was unfair that Uber did not have to adhere to the same transportation regulations as its members.

In response to the ruling, Uber claimed in a statement shared with the New York Times that it's already in compliance with the majority of local laws in the European countries where it operates. The ride-hailing giant has already withdrawn UberPop from multiple European markets, including France, Italy, Spain, Norway, Sweden, and a handful of German cities, as a result of legal and regulatory challenges.

However, Business Insider reports that it still operates in Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Finland. In the absence of UberPop, the company has rolled out UberX, another service that uses nonprofessional drivers, in many Western European markets, and has tailored the service to fit local regulations. In Germany, for example, Uber registered all UberX drivers on the platform as private car hires covered by a commercial transport insurer, according to Red Herring. In addition, the company said it remains committed to working with national and local regulators to ensure that it is in compliance with the law in each of the European countries it's in.

However, new expenses from complying with local regulations could hurt Uber's ability to offer new rider discounts and grow its market share in the region. The company remains in fierce competition with Daimler-owned MyTaxi, one of the biggest ride-hailing players in Europe with 9.7 million users at the end of September, for market share in various Western European countries. Uber has a much greater share of the UK market, while MyTaxi has a higher share in Germany, and they both have about one quarter of the Spanish market, according to Dalia Research estimates. Uber also competes with other local players such as France's Le Taxi and Taxi Berlin in Germany. The additional costs of paying drivers salaries and benefits may prevent Uber from offering rider discounts and incentives to boost its share in these highly competitive markets.

Moreover, the ruling likely spells trouble for other ride-hailing services on the continent, and could drive the proliferation of different types of on-demand mobility services. MyTaxi has also faced its fair share of legal troubles, for instance, and could run into more issues in light of the recent court decision. Moreover, even if ride-hailing firms comply with these regulatory changes, added costs and regulatory complexities could push them to explore other mobility services that aren't dependent on nonprofessional drivers.

Ford's Chariot on-demand shuttle service, for example, employs full-time drivers, and the US auto giant has partnered with a handful of local governments to plan routes in cities to ease the burden on public transit systems. Similar services — although more cumbersome and involving higher up-front costs — might prove more successful in the EU in the long term than ride-hailing services using nonprofessional drivers, especially because of their potential to take vehicles off the roads during peak commuter hours. Earlier this year, Daimler partnered with Via, a US-based ride-sharing startup, to launch on-demand shuttle bus services in Amsterdam and other European cities.

- Nicholas Shields

Fonte:http://emanuelescarci.blog.ilsole24ore.com/2017/12/23/ferrero-in-lista-di-attesa-negli-usa-per-mangiare-lo-snack-kit-kat/

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