{"id":22029,"date":"2014-08-15T03:38:13","date_gmt":"2014-08-14T19:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=22029"},"modified":"2014-08-14T22:39:58","modified_gmt":"2014-08-14T14:39:58","slug":"berlin-taxi-drivers-celebrate-after-city-bans-ridesharing-service-uber-over-safety-fears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/08\/15\/berlin-taxi-drivers-celebrate-after-city-bans-ridesharing-service-uber-over-safety-fears\/","title":{"rendered":"Berlin taxi drivers celebrate after city bans ridesharing service Uber over safety fears"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_22030\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22030\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/uberlogo_large_verge_medium_landscape.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22030\" src=\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/uberlogo_large_verge_medium_landscape.png\" alt=\"Logo from siliconbeat.com\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/uberlogo_large_verge_medium_landscape.png 640w, https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/uberlogo_large_verge_medium_landscape-300x200.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22030\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Logo from siliconbeat.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>BERLIN\u2014Berlin taxi drivers were celebrating Thursday after authorities banned the ridesharing service Uber from operating in the city because of safety concerns.<\/p>\n<p>In a decree Wednesday, Berlin authorities said they wouldn\u2019t tolerate Uber putting customers at risk by allowing them to ride in cars that hadn\u2019t been checked, and with drivers who weren\u2019t vetted or properly insured. The argument echoes that of established cab companies who claim Uber\u2019s app-based services, which offer limousines and pickups by private drivers, dodge rules that ordinary taxi firms have to abide by.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve got no problem with anyone who plays by the same rules as everyone else and shows that they can do it better,\u201d said Richard Leipold, head of the Berlin Taxi Association. \u201cThere are plenty of apps on the market in Berlin that do just that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fabien Nestmann, general manager for Uber Germany, said the company intends to challenge the ban.<\/p>\n<p>Berlin\u2019s decision \u201cis not progressive and it\u2019s seeking to limit consumer choice for all the wrong reasons,\u201d Nestmann said. \u201cAs a new entrant we\u2019re bringing much-needed competition to a market that hasn\u2019t changed in years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The San Francisco-based company, which has received financial backing from Google, said it remains open to dialogue with authorities and rivals.<\/p>\n<p>Wednesday\u2019s ban, which comes with the threat of a 25,000-euro ($33,400) fine for non-compliance, follows a separate Berlin court ruling in April that Uber\u2019s limousine service breaks the law. The Berlin Taxi Association, which had brought the case, didn\u2019t ask the court to enforce that ban because it wanted to wait for possible appeals, Leipold said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThose legal proceedings are still underway, but I\u2019m confident they will end in our favour,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Uber has faced opposition from taxi drivers and authorities in several cities worldwide. According to its website the company operates in four other German cities: Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Duesseldorf.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BERLIN\u2014Berlin taxi drivers were celebrating Thursday after authorities banned the ridesharing service Uber from operating in the city because of &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":22030,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","category-travel","mauthors-frank-jordans","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22029"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22029\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}