French courts are apparently quite fed up with Uber, and the ride-sharing service has just seen its 50,000 euro (about RM 232,000) fine increased to 100,000 euro (about RM465,000) by an appeals court. That isn’t the end of the story either, as the court also ordered Uber to acknowledge the conviction and explain why it was wrong in a blog post to its website.
The problem centres around UberPop, which is the French version of Uber X in Malaysia. French taxis also protested against the service, much like what happened in our own country; except that it involved more rioting, damaged vehicles, arson, and parts of the city being shut down. In response, the Paris government banned UberPop from operating.
Despite the ban, Uber pushed ahead with an advertising campaign that ignored the government’s decision and claimed that the service was perfectly legal. Naturally, it lost the case when a consumer protection agency dragged the issue before the courts for “deceptive commercial practices”. Which generally means that the company has been found guilty of lying to get customers.
The courts have now ordered Uber to correct the misinformation by admitting it got caught. There are no details about when the admission of guilt will take place, but it should come rather soon considering that it was ordered by one of the strictest legal systems on the planet.
Naturally, Uber is still operating in France; and intends to continue pushing for the service to be legalised. However, that doesn’t seem very likely considering French taxi associations who are willing to throw the city into chaos at the drop of a hat.
[Source: The Register]
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