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Four Dutch Uberpop Taxi Drivers Arrested, Fined
An anonymous reader writes with news that authorities in the Netherlands have arrested four drivers sharing their car for money through the Uberpop app. The drivers were then released with a fine of EUR 4,200 (USD 5,300) each and further threatened with additional fines of EUR 10,000 (USD 12,600) for each time they might be caught doing it again. While similar bullying applied to short rentals of private rooms through sites like Airbnb hasn't had the same success so far the thoughts go to the fined drivers, hoping they won't ever be caught carrying their grandmother to the supermarket then have to explain how they dared. Uber says it will "fully support" the affected drivers."
I'm sorry but your american liberalism is not welcome in Europe. Pay taxes and get the needed permits and you can stay.
It's not legal just because you saw it on the internet.
suck the pop ssssssssicle
What kind of person bills his grandmother for taking her to the supermarket? Jeezz...
Repeat after me: "it's against the law to drive people around for money without the proper credentials".
I wouldn't trust the company to have my back. I may be a bit gullible and trusting, but I know enough to know that Corporate America will fry you in the name of money or image perception.
Just because you order through an app doesn't make it any different than all the other illegal taxis that have always been there. Not having to bother about license, insurance, knowledge and driver background checks makes you competitive, as all black market alternatives.
The Netherlands has one of the highest quality of life ratings in the EU, even Forbes agrees with that but tacks on economic opportunity, and a fully funded pension system:
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/10/12/business/no-smoke-no-mirrors-the-dutch-pension-plan.html
I guess thinking long term and discussing policies makes society more enjoyable than participating in a race to the bottom Just because uber wants to have workers with no risk/employment obligations...
While similar bullying...
Enforcing laws is bullying?
The Netherlands is a nation-state. The gov't proposes laws according to the Roman code and the Napoleonic code legal principles, the parliament enacts them, the monarch signs them into power and you obey them. Whatever rights the constitution and the laws grant to you, are yours. Rights not granted, remain with the guvmint and you just obey. In short, the exact opposite of the USA and its Common Law based principles.
If you dislike this, don't settle in the dutch country in the first place (or most of the European Union, for that matter or Japan). If you change your mind later on, leave the country. Else the police will come to your house / office. If you further try to disobey, that's called a rebellion and the military will come to your house.
He borrows my car once a month to drive his grandma to do her monthly shopping and she usually gives him some money. More for him being her grandson than being her driver, but still.
And I could be in for facilitating that crime!
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
How many uber drivers would ever take a short run like that, except maybe with quadruple surge pricing? Ain't worth their time.
Who posted this? An investor in Uber?? I applaud the Dutch government for taking action against schemes like Uber and Airbnb which are trying to profit by pitting the rest of us against each other in a battle-royale "race to the bottom." There is such a thing as too much competition, too much "free market." People need to be able to earn a decent living, and with unskilled jobs this requires wage controls and price controls. Free markets are only optimal for exploiting resources (such as pulling oil out of the ground); they are not optimal for environmental sustainability or maximizing quality of life.
The level of astroturfing for Uber is getting ridiculous. I was sympathetic at first, because I can see how the existing monopolies are bad, but:
a) They aren't even trying to change the laws, they're just ignoring them. There are some laws that are so bad civil disobedience is a valid tactic. This is not one of those laws, and even then, when you do civil disobedience you're supposed to *accept* the legal punishment, because you *did* break the law.
b) They're astroturfing like crazy to frame the debate as "the common man versus the big bad taxi monopolies" when it's really "big international web-based corporation versus big local corporations". I don't care how many times you make sockpuppet comments about it, nobody's getting arrested for driving their grandma to the grocery store. People are getting arrested for running unlicensed taxicabs.
Licensing taxis is a good thing. The current laws may be overly-restrictive to protect existing businesses, but the spirit of the law is good. Uber? You're not. Any sympathy I once had is gone, purely because of your PR tactics. I was already unlikely to be a customer (I *have* my own car), but now I'm definitely not going to.
We have a separate class of 'Licensed Hire Vehicles' which are not as flexible as taxis - you have to book them rather than hail on the street. This does require explicit registration of the vehicles, but I've seen one with 'Uber' flashes, so it seems to work. This is a good solution for people who want to make a real living out of Uber, rather than just occasional.
http://green.autoblog.com/2007...
is an alternative outcome - registration to avoid London's congestion charge (for driving in the streets of much of central London)
What's your point, fucktard?
You're free to do what you like as long as you grease the palms of the communist party.
The vested interests will also complain about fair competition. The problem with that is you can't stop more efficient businesses forever. Holding them back too long creates more problems when the crash finally comes
In the end the laws are just behind. There are all this under used goods and services in the cities. (Cars idle all day at work, rooms empty while people are out of town). Before the internet it was too inefficient to match a user with the seller. This is no longer true. Fix the laws and productivity of resources will increase. Heck even the city government needs to change and allow filing of business sales taxes online for small scale stuff.
Remember, this is inevitable anyways over the long term.
liability issues do you want to be a victim and be left to fend for your self?
http://www.theverge.com/2014/3...
In the end the laws are just behind. There are all this under used goods and services in the cities. (Cars idle all day at work, rooms empty while people are out of town). Before the internet it was too inefficient to match a user with the seller. This is no longer true.
If your car is "underutilized" while at work, feel free to leave your keys in your unlocked car. You can leave a note and post about it online and ask people to return it with a full tank by a certain time. If you are sitting in your car all day while at work driving custom bus routes for fun, feel free to pick people up. If you charge for the service, you are a taxi driver and must follow local laws. Before you object, why should I be restricted from performing surgery without a license when you want to be a taxi driver without one? At least I'm only likely to kill poorly informed clients, not them, myself and people eating at a sidewalk cafe if I screw up.
Buck Feta.
Buck Feta. You know what to do.
fuck off and stop telling other people what they're allowed to do?
I mean yeah this is slashdot but it feels like it's been quiet a while since I read such an opinionated summary here. How can you publish that crap? Oh right. Slashdot.
If a train station is a place where a train stops, what's a workstation?
is that shit illegal? If so what's the difference. Backpackers have been doing that for years and no one complains. Add money to the equation and now it's an issue.
Driving unregistered taxis are illegal in most of europe. A private company writing an app does NOT change the laws.
Operating a taxi in most of Europe requires a taxi licence, a criminal background check, a "knowledge" test plus additional road safety requirements for driver & car. Uber is not exempt from this and if drivers don't meet the requirements they're going to be treated like any other unlicenced driver and fined. Sucks to be them but its not bullying. These laws existed before Uber turned up and if the company and their drivers didn't bother to do the due diligence then whose fault is it when they run afoul of them?
Astonishing. Dear /., you're in trouble.
What if a licensed taxi driver would use the app to make some extra money in his spare time?
he has all the requirements, but is still "stealing customers", would this also be against the law?
It was very obvious this was going to happen. Authorities even announced they would take action, and Uber has been very public about going to start this service and that they would pay any fines.
I don't know what the playbook of Uber and the transport inspection services are, but it is obvious that for both sides have these fines as part of it.
This makes it possible for Uber to fight it out in the courts, and will likely trigger discussion in the parliament that may lead to changes in the laws.
Nah, we are the society, it's our damn job decide how WE (including you) live around here. Take a ship over the ocean if you want to live free. Guess that's gone also. Well ,there is always somalia if you want to live outside civilized society without the evil government.
The worst Uber car I've ever been in was cleaner, newer, and driven by a more pleasant and friendly driver than the best taxi I've ever been in.
Uber is eating the cab companies' lunch because they're offering a SUPERIOR service.
They were not arrested for being uber drivers, they were arrested for being Jews and for being outside without wearing the mandatory yellow star. In Belgium they take the ERG (Europaeische RasseGesetzen) seriously. The goal of the EU is the protection of the European Volkgemeinschaft, after all.
"the thoughts go to the fined drivers, hoping they won't ever be caught carrying their grandmother to the supermarket then have to explain how they dared"
Unless they're planning on charging granny for the trip to the supermarket, this isn't relevant.
Because of laws.
Why are laws?
Just as you can't sell any service without the proper licence and not being the correct legal entity.
Why do undue barriers to obtaining "the proper licence" and becoming "the correct legal entity" continue to exist?
See it as selling alcohol in a dry county.
Why do dry counties continue to exist?
It is always "our rules" and the Dutch have tlll now decided against it.
When was the most recent poll?
Can I have a tank? ()
They are underutilized! Pleaaase??? ^(*_*)^
-- 29A the number of the Beast
"While similar bullying applied to short rentals of private rooms through sites like Airbnb"
Look-- Uber, Lyft, and all the other distributed taxi services are being so heavily attacked by regulatory agencies because it is the responsibility of those agencies to protect consumer safety. Voluntarily make sure your company meets all the same safety and insurance requirements as an existing taxi system and you'll be set.
AirBnB is similar in that the repeated short-term rental of homes as hotels requires health and fire inspections of these distributed hotels, BUT there's an additional issue. Amsterdam is a massive tourist attraction. People want to visit Amsterdam, ride bikes, get high, and maybe visit a prostitute. However, Amsterdam is not that big... and the people who live there don't want it to get very big. In fact, if it got too big or too expensive, then you'd have no dutch people living there-- just tourist agencies and immigrants dressed in stereotypical Dutch garb-- "Welcome to Dutch Land, Americans!".
The ease of facilitating short-term tourism rentals via AirBnB makes it exceedingly profitable to buy a flat and use AirBnB to bring in more revenue per month than you could get renting the place out to people who actually want to live and work in the city. And that's the problem. Amsterdam should be full of the Dutch but without appropriate regulation, it will be full of tourists with some Dutch on the side.
I would love to visit Amsterdam, but wouldn't care to do so in the future if it's jam packed with tourists.