Posted on 06/29/2015 9:26:52 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
The two leaders of Uber in France were taken into custody Monday as part of a probe into their ride-booking app which has sparked violent protests from regular taxi drivers, AFP claimed, citing various sources.
The pair are believed to be Thibault Simphal,the director general of Uber France and Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, the directorgeneral of Uber Europe...
An investigation was opened in 2014 into the application used to put paying clients in contact with cheaper, private drivers who do not face the same regulations as cabbies.
The probe is focused on whether UberApp equates to "illegal organisation" of a system that allows drivers to transport clients for money, but who don't have to pay social contributions...
Officially UberPop is illegal in France but it has been allowed to continue until France's constitutional court makes a final decision in September.
But regional authorities in France and the government are not willing to wait and have effectively declared war on the app, which counts more than 400,000 users in France.
Earlier on Monday Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve announced that 200 extra officers would patrol the streets looking for UberPop drivers.
The specialist taxi police brigade, known as "Boers" will be specifically tasked with finding and apprehending anyone transporting paying customers without a licence, and UberPop drivers risk having their vehicles seized.
Last week Cazeneuve tried to calm tensions by asking authorities in the French capital to impose a ban on UberPop.
Uber has filed complaints with the EU against France, Germany and Spain over their efforts to prevent the UberPop app.
Uber's American founder Travis Kalanick has said the system will create 50,000 new jobs in Europe this year, and help take 400,000 cars off the road by encouraging drivers to use taxis instead of their own vehicle.
(Excerpt) Read more at thelocal.fr ...
I wonder if Uber will go under?
IOW, The State isn't getting their cut.
Why can’t two consenting adults agree to one paying the other for a ride? Union bosses and socialists everywhere would sooner allow prostitution than an Uber ride.
The state needs the money to pay for the “migrants.”
Only if they can tax it!
Prostitutes have to be licensed in parts of Europe.
/bingo
If it still moves, regulate it.
If it stops moving, subsidize it.
Here in America they hold office. No license or birth certificate required.
riiight, put the muslim youth on black market type uber and french cops will do nothing. This is how you fet your protection out west, with muslims, since we are too stupid to organize ourselves
otherwise known as carpooling
That is one of several possible configurations of the society. That's how it works when colonists arrive and set up first villages. They buy and sell directly, treating each other as individuals, not as companies.
However today France - and any other modern country - is not set up that way. It has a government, and that government is tasked with collecting money from taxpayers and spending it on defense, on social security, or - among other programs - on spaceflight. Taxpayers are individuals and businesses.
Uber apparently is skipping the obligations of a business, but enjoying the privileges. Paying the taxes is just one, most obvious aspect of it. But I'm sure there are more. How about business insurance? Does the driver carry a business policy, one that will be valid if he has an accident while transporting people for profit? How about work hours? How about making sure that his car is checked by a mechanic every day? (Or, does the passenger want to ride in a car that makes one million miles per year but rarely gets checked?) Does the vehicle's design protect the rider from the driver, and vice versa?
The business license may look like a bureaucratic excuse for grabbing some money, but *in this world* it is also a stabilizing factor. If you buy a pizza, you can be more or less sure that it is made in sanitary conditions, from fresh ingredients. That's one aspect of regulation - enforcement of some standards that are required for safety.
I can definitely see that Uber is a disruptive technology. Taxicab drivers were always a special club that is expensive (or impossible) to enter. Cities used sales of permits (medallions) to raise lots of money. Cab companies and drivers then charged the riders with high fees to cover these costs and enjoyed their monopoly position. Uber makes them all obsolete. The problem is not with old companies, and not with new companies, but with the fact that both exist in the same space and at the same time.
in Socialist Europe its amazing Uber thought they could get away with creating a new way of doing taxi service!
Once the industry "matures" it is likely to disappear, because sooner or later either the workers will figure out that it isn't worth it, and/or the customers will be forced to pay the true cost of the service.
When our colonies matured to a nation, I believe tariffs and real estate taxes paid our bills. Our cities, counties, states etc have become too thirsty for tax dollars. And why would Uber pay a business tax in a city, when it uses none of its services for a ohysical presence. The drivers pay their gas taxes for their use of the roads.
In France, Uber has been providing the additional insurance coverage. My understanding is this varies widely depending on local rules.
As far as safety etc are concerned....people can make their own choices. I may never take an Uber ride...my choice...but other people are grown up enough to make their own decision.
Cabs have been magnets for graft for decades. Im glad something is upending it.
Taxi police brigade? Why didn't they stop the shootings at Charlie Hebdo????
Yes, they remove the opportunity for graft!
yes
Uber operates outside the regulatory apparatus protecting consumers
the existence of Uber means any one can get an I phone and practice dentistry or surgery on call
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