Hollande demands ban on Uber taxis : UCG condemns Paris violence.

 

French President Francois Hollande has called for the Uber taxi service to be shut down and its vehicles seized.

But Uber is refusing to stop the service until a ruling by the country's top court.

The stand-off, and a violence-marred taxi strike in Paris, reflects wider tensions in France over how to regulate fast-moving technology and stay globally competitive while ensuring labour protections.

France's top security official, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, said today that Uber is facing multiple investigations. He spoke to RTL radio a day after striking taxi drivers attacked Uber livery cars and set fire to tyres on a major artery around Paris.

Some taxi drivers continued the protest today, but the strike did not appear to seriously disrupt morning travel around Paris, and no violence was immediately reported.

Uber's cheapest service, called UberPop in France, has been banned, but Uber officials insist they will continue their activities until France's highest court rules on the service.

Mr Cazeneuve called that "cynical and arrogant".

Mr Hollande said today: "The UberPop group must be dissolved and declared illegal, and the vehicles must be seized." But he said the executive branch cannot do that without further action through the courts.

The president, speaking at an EU summit in Brussels, accused Uber of not respecting "social and fiscal rules". 

Uber argues that the French taxi system is outdated and needs reform to keep up with apps and geolocalisation, and that traditional taxis are just trying to quash competition.

The company faces similar legal challenges and criticism from taxi drivers' associations around the world.

Furious taxi drivers in France say the low-cost UberPop service is ruining their livelihood. Uber drivers have been repeatedly ambushed, sometimes with customers inside.

There were reports of groups of taxi drivers “hunting down” suspected Uber drivers at Charles de Gaulle and Roissy Airports.

Limousines allegedly operating for Uber were overturned at Charles de Gaulle and Porte Maillot, on the outskirts of the French capital. Other areas of Paris and other cities were also affected, as taxi drivers struck out against unfair competition from the UberPOP service.

French riot police push an overturned car upright, as striking French taxi drivers demonstrate at the Porte Maillot to block the traffic on the Paris ring road during a national protest against Uber, in Paris, June 25, 2015

The Uber company has been facing large setbacks in Europe, with similar problems in Italy, Germany and Belgium.

The app has already been banned in the Netherlands and Spain, and is appealing bans in France and Germany. 

Back in May, Uber launched it's 160 euros a pop ‘hail’ helicopter service at Cannes Film Festival

The Uber app offered helicopter taxis during the Cannes Film Festival. 

The first of its kind service in France allowed guests to catch a helicopter ride from Nice-Côte d’Azur airport to Cannes for about 160 euros.

The company signed a deal with the French helicopter firm Helipass to offer Sky Taxis throughout the Cannes Film Festival, according to French news channel BFMTV.

The flight service was included in the Uber app as a separate icon on the first day of the festival. 

Meanwhile in London: 

Tension has risen in London over Uber

Black cab drivers have criticised Mayor Boris Johnson for failing to regulate the taxi trade effectively.

Cabbies also claim Uber does not pay UK taxes and is not subject to the same restrictions as traditional Taxis or Private Hire operators

UCG Condem Paris Uber Protest Violence: 

The United Cabbies Group, the fastest growing trade body for the black cab industry, condemn violence at the Paris "Uber protest".

The UCG, who will stage peaceful industrial action outside Palestra, the headquarters for Transport for London (TfL), next week, have condemned the recent violence at the Paris protest against the $50 billion American company as "horrendous and unacceptable." 

Len Martin, Chair of the UCG, said on Friday night:

"What this minority of Paris drivers have done by turning to violence is 100% unacceptable. Violence is never the way. That's why we're calling for a parliamentary inquiry into TfL - amid rumours of institutional corruption. 

Sir Peter Hendy may have disappeared in a puff of smoke yesterday, but we will not."

The UCG stress their strategy of non-violent protest is an action of last resort and call for "reasoned debate" with political leaders from across the spectrum in order to avert further industrial action.