This screenshot taken from the Uber website on February 5, 2015 shows a
map of Nairobi, after the ride-sharing service launched in the Kenyan
capital. GRAPHIC | UBER
Quebec taxi drivers went to court Tuesday seeking a permanent
injunction banning Uber in the Canadian province, in just the latest
legal challenge against the ride-sharing app in several countries.
The
union representing 4,000 taxi drivers in Quebec says Uber is illegal
and wants it shut down locally and is also considering launching a
class-action lawsuit against the start-up to recover lost revenue.
They
claim unfair competition because Uber does not follow local taxi
regulations and its drivers are not licensed to chauffeur passengers.
Spokesman
Benoit Jugand said the taxi union, Regroupement des travailleurs
autonomes Metallos, had no choice but to seek an injunction because the
government refused to enforce its own laws.
Uber is illegal
"It's simple: taxis are legal and Uber is illegal. The law says it and we simply want the laws to be applied," he said.
Uber
"is not carpooling within the meaning of the law" and its drivers
"provide transport against remuneration without a license and without
submitting to public protection and consumer rules," added union lawyer
Marc-Antoine Cloutier.
Uber
was expected to argue that it is a software company, not a
transportation company. At the same time, it has offered to work under
government regulations if they are loosened.
Uber
spokesman Jean-Christophe De Le Rue called the union's accusations
"groundless and an attempt to preserve the monopoly of the taxi industry
to the detriment of consumers."
An Ontario court
recently rejected a similar application by Toronto taxi drivers, while
Edmonton, in Western Canada, last month became the first Canadian
province to unveil new regulations tailored for Uber, effective March 1.
Uber has been hit with a litany of other court action from France to San Francisco and Hong Kong.
AFP
AFP
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