France bans ride-sharing service UberPOP after protests

Uber App
(Image credit: Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

Following a day of nationwide protests by taxi drivers, France's interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve ordered a ban on Uber's peer-to-peer car-sharing service UberPOP. Cazeneuve said UberPOP, which allows drivers of all stripes to register their vehicle with Uber and transport paying customers, is "illegal," and he ordered police and prosecutors to enforce the service's closure and seize any cars defying the order. Uber officials have already said that they will continue offering the service until France's high court issues a ruling.

France's taxi drivers have lost between 30 and 40 percent of their income this year due to the surge of UberPOP, the BBC reports. Taxi drivers complain UberPOP drivers are not being held to the law that requires drivers carrying paying passengers to get a license, which costs taxi drivers thousands of euros to get. Rather, UberPOP allows drivers without professional licenses to simply register their cars and then transport passengers.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us