HUMBLING OF UBER

Judges strike down claim it’s just a tech firm and tell bosses: Obey taxi laws

UBER was brought down to size yesterday when a court ruled it was a transport company and not a digital service.

In a major blow to the taxi-hailing firm, European judges effectively ordered it to ‘play by the same rules as everybody else’.

However the US-based company was defiant last night and insisted the European Court of Justice ruling would not affect its UK operation.

Critics said the EU court’s decision will now force it to comply with national regulations that it has previously been able to ignore. The decision came only a day after the company was accused in court in London of becoming a menace to public safety by forcing its drivers to work exhausting hours.

The tech firm is locked in a legal battle to be allowed to keep operating in the capital, after Transport for London decided not to renew its licence.

The Uber app enables its users to book cars using smartphones and is available in more than 40 towns and cities across the UK. Some 3.5million passengers and 40,000 drivers use it in London alone.

But Uber has been beset with claims of sexual assault by its drivers, a lack of background checks and the fact its drivers get no rights to a living wage, paid holidays, overtime or sick leave.

Last night union boss Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the TUC, welcomed the European court ruling. She said: ‘Uber must get its house in order and play by the same rules as everybody else. Their drivers are not commodities. They deserve at the very least the minimum wage and holiday pay.

‘Advances in technology should be used to make work better. Not to return to the type of working practices we thought we’d seen the back of decades ago.’

Before yesterday’s judgment, Uber had insisted it was a merely a computer service that simply connects drivers on a smartphone app. The San Francisco-based company argued it was an ‘information service’ that should be subject to loose EU rules covering digital companies, rather than rules covering transport which are much tighter. For example, drivers of passengers are required by law to take regular breaks.

But the Luxembourg court dismissed Uber’s argument and said it was ‘much more than an intermediation service’. It said that the entire taxi operation hinged on the app, which it said was ‘indispensable’ for both the drivers and the passengers.

The case against Uber arose after a complaint by a Barcelona taxi drivers’ association determined to prevent it from setting up in the Spanish city.

They accused Uber of gaining a commercial advantage and said that it should be forced to apply for licenses like any other taxi operating in the city. Uber has played down any likely impact, saying it already complies with many national rules. But the ruling will pile pressure on the company after a year in which its CEO has resigned, it has faced accusations of sexual harassment and lost a cache of customer data.

Yesterday’s case involved a service called UberPOP which connects passengers with non-professional drivers who do not hold individual licenses – a system which does not operate in the UK. The operation has proved hugely controversial and been declared illegal in Italy, Spain and Germany.

In a statement, Uber said that the ruling ‘will not change things in most EU countries’ claiming that it already complies with most transportation laws.

‘Working practices from decades ago’