Slashdot Mirror
Court Orders Uber To Shut Down In Spain
An anonymous reader writes with word that a Spanish judge, after complaints from taxi associations that the competition Uber brings to the transportation market is unfair to existing firms' drivers, has ordered the company to cease operations in the country. From the BBC article:
In his ruling on the temporary ban, the judge said Uber drivers didn't have official authorisation to drive their cars and was "unfair competition." The move follows a complaint by the Madrid Taxi Association. The Spanish ban comes just a day after Uber was blacklisted in the Indian capital Delhi. Drivers "lack the administrative authorisation to carry out the job, and the activity they carry out constitutes unfair competition," the Spanish court services said in a statement after the ruling. In Thailand, too. And stateside, the government of Portland, Oregon thinks Uber's a big enough threat to justify a sting operation. Business Insider's keeping score.
I want to sell my services as a doctor, electrician, and architect, but I'm barred from doing so by law because I haven't greased the right palms.
Uber is doing the equivalent to opening a restaurant and claiming they don't have to pass health inspections because the chef is a contractor rather than an employee.
Who gives a shit if the customer likes Uber? Are you against all licensing and regulation?
Having driven carefully for a while in the UK, my car insurance is quite low nowadays. However, it doesn't cover commercial use of the car. So if I drive a paying passenger, neither the car, nor I, nor the passenger, nor anyone I hit, will be insured. That's driving without insurance.
I can get commercial insurance, but it's _expensive_. Very expensive. Not sure if I need a special license to be allowed to drive paying passengers. So the sting operation that was mentioned is absolutely fine with me. If they drive without insurance, they should be fined very, very hard. I'd also look forward to a court case where Uber is found liable in such a case.
Yes, in the UK private hire vehicles must be licensed, as must the driver and the operator.
https://www.gov.uk/government/...
The idea that we need to regulate me paying one person to transport me from one spot to another is, frankly, ridiculous.
Try riding a cab in city where they aren't properly regulated and you may change your mind after you get in a cab with a driver who asks you for directions in a city you do not live in and is driving a clapped out ex cop car with bad shocks, a check engine light that's on and whose brakes squeal like metal to metal contact is being made whenever he uses them.
Voluntary certifications? Fraternal industrial associations? Basic safety inspections ? Fine.
What reason is there for regulating commerce in this manner besides cartelization of the transport industry?
Why is it a crime for me to charge someone $40 to take them to the airport in my car?
Sure, regulation limits competition and part of the reasons there is a strong move to keep regulations in place is to keep the value of the medallion artificially high. OTOH, simply arguing because you use an app to hail a ride you are somehow different and not subject to the same rules is ridiculous. There just gypsy cabs with a nicer front end for hailing them.
I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
"The legacy taxis are just utterly terrible services on so many levels. About the only thing they're useful is for trips between the downtown hotels and the airport. That's fine for tourists; but if you actually live here, taxi's are all but useless [...] Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar show up on time where you need them, don't bitch about trips to or from the avenues, don't play the "the credit card machine is broken, cash only" game, and don't stink of smoke, pee, or vomit. None of that is true of taxis."
Hummm... this is about *Spanish* taxis. I know them fairly well and you can bet no thing you said is of application here.
"The idea that we need to regulate me paying one person to transport me from one spot to another is, frankly, ridiculous."
No, it certainly isn't.
You are putting yourself on a one or two tons machine able to trump itself to about 100MPH maybe in a environment you don't know, under control of an unknown guy with a vested while desperate interest in cutting corners and make a profit out of somebody who probably won't see again in his whole life.
_Not_ having regulations on that kind of activity is what looks ridiculous.