BackIs Uber a taxi service or a mobile-phone app, EU regulators ask
EU spokesman says Uber is a technology, but it is a technology that has an impact on transportation
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Brussels: European Union regulators reviewing complaints filed by Uber Technologies Inc. against various national laws are asking a serious question about the company. Is it a web app or a taxi service?
“Uber is a technology, but it is a technology that has an impact on transportation," Jakub Adamowicz, an EU spokesman, said at a press conference on Wednesday. “We’re taking our time to analyze, see and study."
The European commission is reviewing the issue as it investigates complaints the San Francisco-based ride-sharing service has filed against national laws that Uber says restricts its ability to compete against traditional taxis. A complaint was filed against Spanish legislation 30 March after it had already lodged actions over rules in Germany and France.
Several European commission services are working together to examine the complaints as “it’s quite difficult" to determine such matters in the digital world, spokeswoman Mina Andreeva told reporters.
“One can buy a plane ticket online, yet it’s a transport service in the end. In the digital world one needs to take a general approach," Andreeva said.
Uber has faced resistance as it seeks to expand in Europe. A German court ordered the company to stop its ride-hailing service in the country for profit on 18 March. Uber has sought the EU’s help to break down barriers.
Thomas Meister, a spokesman for the company in Paris, said the answer was easy.
“A web app, obviously," he said in an e-mail.
Uber’s first complaint against France’s taxi law was rejected by the EU. The second complaint is being reviewed by the commission’s transportation unit, Adamowicz said. Bloomberg
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