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Four Dutch Uberpop Taxi Drivers Arrested, Fined

Posted by timothy on from the not-so-laissez-faire dept.

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."

12 of 282 comments (clear)

  1. News at 11. by queazocotal · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's not legal just because you saw it on the internet.

    1. Re:News at 11. by burne · · Score: 4, Funny

      TCA, the largest 'traditional' taxi switchboard used to stand for "Taxi Criminals Amsterdam', not 'Taxi Central Amsterdam'.

      Much of the TCA 'staff' had 2-3 feet dossiers at the local prosecutors.

      Uberpop is a threat to local mafia.

      Need I say more?

    2. Re:News at 11. by Kabukiwookie · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Yes indeed. If you're a tourist coming to The Netherlands, expect to be severely ripped off when when using a taxi. Not only are the taxi drivers generally obnoxious and sometimes downright hostile, there's no alternative other than the few privileged companies that are allowed to pick up travelers from Schiphol airport.

      A 30 minute ride will quickly add up to over 150 Euros and there's no recourse if there is any disagreement

      Rent a car if possible or take the train. It's cheaper and saves you a lot of hassle.

      --
      The mountains of madness have many little plateaus of sanity - Terry Pratchett.
  2. Biased summary by excelsior_gr · · Score: 4, Informative

    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".

    1. Re:Biased summary by houghi · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Why can't I have someone give me pieces of paper when I drive them somewhere?

      Because of laws. Just as you can't sell any service without the proper licence and not being the correct legal entity.

      See it as selling alcohol in a dry county. Or practicing medicine.

      Just because it is your property, it isn't always your rules. It is always "our rules" and the Dutch have tlll now decided against it.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    2. Re:Biased summary by WoOS · · Score: 4, Informative

      The arbitrary requirements you linked are to be allowed to use buslanes and taxi parking spaces in Amsterdam not to be a taxi driver in the Netherlands (it explicitely says that taxi drivers from outside Amsterdam are still allowed to drive into and out of Amsterdam without the "Taxxxivergunning"). So how about some information on the real requirements? Another page on the same site you linked mentions e.g. the "regels van de Wet Personenvervoer 2000" but my Dutch is not the best.

      At least in Germany the "proper credentials" do include e.g. a special driver license which includes a medical analysis, a police clearance, a check of the driving penalty points registry, check of local knowledge, ... .

    3. Re:Biased summary by Harlequin80 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      And frankly I think this is a good thing. Getting in a car with a stranger can be a dangerous act. Knowing that the marked taxi that you are getting in is, most likely, driven by a vetted individual, maintained to at least a minimum standard, fitted with cameras and tracking equipment, all mitigate some of that risk.

      I don't care that you can drive your car on the road. Just because you do that doesn't mean you get to be a taxi. You state that being a member of a TTO of 100 or more is arbitrary. I say that it means the government has a single point of inspection and contact to manage a large number of vehicles. As for the professionalism, it is much harder to define. But if you want to be a busker in Brisbane city for example you need a license. There is absolutely no cost in getting that license but you have to do an audition. Basically it is the council deciding are your professional enough, and again no issue from me.

  3. Re:Bullying by truedfx · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Back in August, the ILT (the responsible party) had already been sending out warnings to drivers that what they were doing was illegal and that they could be fined up to EUR 4200. Source (in Dutch). If it has taken more than a month for them to actually fine anyone, I'd say they've been very lenient, at least based on the current laws.

  4. Getting tired of this shit by gman003 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

  5. Re:I'm sorry by mjwx · · Score: 5, Informative

    Life's not all about cheap dope and Eastern European hookers. Native Dutch have been leaving the Netherlands for years.

    "Last year, 144,175 people emigrated, the paper says, quoting figures from the national statistics office CBS. In 2011, nearly 134,000 people left and in 2010, 121,000."
    http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/a...

    To put this into perspective, the Netherlands has a population of 16.8 Million people. 150,000 aren't even 1% so that's pretty normal for emigration. Hardly the crisis you're making out.

    I'd be willing to bet a good proportion of those would be Dutch retiring to some place warmer with cheaper prostitutes like Thailand (Thailand seems to be the go-to place for European retirees, Americans usually end up in the Philippines, we Australians have infested both places).

    --
    Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
  6. Re:I'm sorry by Harlequin80 · · Score: 5, Informative

    And yet net migration remains positive. In 2013 144,175 people left and 197,241 came. So a little over 50k people decided it was a better place to live overall. Helps if you get both numbers.

  7. Re:I'm sorry by Blaskowicz · · Score: 4, Informative

    Your own property? yes, feel free to drive without a permit *ON* your own property. Public roads aren't such.