The Toronto Star reported that mobile taxi summoning service Uber, is being taken to court by the city of Toronto because of “25 municipal licensing offenses, including operation of an unlicensed taxi brokerage and unlicensed limo service.” This latest court case comes after the limo and taxi service startup has been opened or is scheduled to start service in 24 cities. Uber is already facing court cases and other legal fights in San Francisco, Chicago, Massachusetts, New York and Washington D.C.
Uber looks like it will fight any moves to make it stop services and two recent wins mean that the company may have a chance to change the landscape of taxi and limousine services. Washington D.C. was the location of the first win as the city gave a nod to a “legislative framework for a new class of transportation services.” CEO Travis Kalanick was delighted by the victory and his company celebrated by launching version 2.0 of Uber’s mobile app. The updated software got a new design and improved location data.
Toronto may be a tough nut to crack for Uber because the city does not believe the service is legal. Manager of licensing enforcement for the city, Richard Mucha, has stated that Uber is not “operating in accordance with the City of Toronto’s licensing bylaw.” He also told The Star that Uber’s automatic 20 percent gratuity fee is illegal in the city. Uber will now end up in court on January 30th against the city of Toronto and could pay up to $25,000 in fines if it loses. The service is also in danger of being issues a prohibition order.
Kalanick talked about the case with TechCrunch and said that, “We believe that Uber is operating legally and that a court of law will agree with that.” He also added that, “I’m looking forward to our day in court.”
In most cases against Uber, cities claim that the service is illegal because its “doesn’t license its drivers — nor is does it have a license to dispatch.” Uber claims that since it doesn’t own the cars being used or has its own drivers on staff it doesn’t need to follow those rules. Uber works with independently contracted drivers from local limo and taxi services who have their own licenses and the companies that worlk for have their own dispatching licenses.
In most cases Uber is ending up head butting against existing city laws and contracts. Most cities also do not have legislation in the sector that deals with changes in technology. Kalanick views all this as anti-competitive regulations in most cities.
The Star states that Toronto is currently “reviewing its licensing bylaws with regards to taxi cabs,” and this may mean that the center of attention will be Uber’s service. If the technology startup wins in Toronto it could be a smoother course for the company in other cities.
Source: Tech Crunch
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