France bans ride-sharing service UberPOP after protests

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published 26 June 2015

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.