The controversial but popular car pick-up service Uber claimed a victory in Germany today when a court threw out an injunction levelled against its operations in Europe's biggest economy.
The regional court in Frankfurt ruled that there was no need for an urgent temporary ban against the San Francisco-based firm, which allows passengers to summon cars using an app on their smartphones at prices that significantly undercut rival taxi companies.
The decision means Uber can resume operating legally in Germany, but must await a final ruling on a complaint by the taxi federation as to whether it has the necessary permits to run a business.
The judges handed the company a reprieve but indicated it still had serious qualms about Uber's business model.
"The court still considers it to be unlawful that Uber brings trip requests to drivers who don't have permits under passenger transport law and thus incites drivers to break the law," it said in a statement.
But it said that a temporary injunction was a legal measure only to be issued when there was a "critical, urgent need", which it said had not been demonstrated.
Uber was defiant after the initial nationwide ban was levelled in late August even though it faced a fine of 250,000 euros (RM1.03 million) every time it flouted it.
The company has been operating in five German cities, including Berlin and Frankfurt, since early 2013 and has trumpeted a major surge in business since the injunction.
But it has faced fierce opposition from local taxi companies, which have invoked court injunctions with some success.
Following the Frankfurt ruling last month, the head of the group's Western European operations, Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty told AFP the company was "examining ways of changing the service" to comply with German law.
"We fought the same battle one and a half years ago" in the United States, he said.
Uber is expanding at a rapid clip and now operates in more than 100 US cities.
It has a foothold in 42 countries, with a strong presence in the Asia-Pacific region.
But its move into Europe has encountered opposition from taxi companies, including protests from London cabbies and legal injunctions also in France and Spain. – AFP, September 16, 2014.
Comments
Please refrain from nicknames or comments of a racist, sexist, personal, vulgar or derogatory nature, or you may risk being blocked from commenting in our website. We encourage commenters to use their real names as their username. As comments are moderated, they may not appear immediately or even on the same day you posted them. We also reserve the right to delete off-topic comments