‘Gobsmacked’: Why city banned Uber

Loi Street in the Belgian capital was gridlocked on Thursday as cars piled up in protest. The rideshare company has been ordered to pay a 300,000 euro (A$446,600) penalty for drying up the city’s existing taxi service. The fine followed a court-ordered partial shutdown imposed on its services in Brussels earlier this week.

According to Bloomberg, The Brussels Court of Appeal told two of the company’s units to pay 150,000 euros each following a complaint by a Brussels taxi firm.

Uber started up in Brussels in 2014 with UberPop but was ordered to cease a year later after local taxi company Taxis Vert filed a lawsuit. Courts ruled that such a service didn’t comply with regulations, as most drivers did not have a VVB professional license — the same license held by limousine drivers.

Uber since rebuilt its services in Brussels, reportedly only allowing drivers who have a VVB to work. However, the latest court ruling states the 2015 cease-and-desist order also applies to the certified drivers who work for Uber.

The company slammed the joint action with its drivers, describing it as “exceptional and unprecedented in Europe”.

Minister-president of the Brussels region Rudi Vervoort claims Uber “misled” its drivers, who are employed as contractors, by allowing so many of them to operate despite the risk of a ban.

“In 2015, there were 217 drivers, today there are 1,191,” he said in the statement. “UberX presented the same legal risk as UberPop, which, as a reminder, was ordered to cease its activities in 2015.”

Uber warned customers today that “only 5 per cent of cars will be able to move you around Brussels” after 6pm local time.

“You won’t be able to get the service that you are used to in Brussels and, at best, should expect much longer waiting times but, at worst, will struggle to get a ride,” the statement read.

One anonymous protester said the demonstrations weren’t in defence of a particular company, but merely for workers’ rights to earn without government getting in the way.

“We’re not defending Uber or Heetch, or any other app,” the driver, who identified himself as Brahim, said via Politico. “We’re defending ourselves, independent drivers. Even if the government is against Uber and wants to kick Uber out — we couldn’t care less. We just want our rights, our right to work.”

Belgian locals who rely on the competitively-priced rideshare services have complained against the ruling, claiming inconvenience.

Rideshare app Heetch came out on the front foot after the new rules were announced, calling for drivers to take a stand against the government.

“As you know, Brussels‘ government has announced that all drivers are banned from using their smartphones to carry out their work,” Heetch told its drivers in an email. ”In other words, if the government maintains its position, THE RIDE-HAILING APP MARKET WILL DISAPPEAR!”

Elsewhere around Europe, old-guard taxi drivers have begun to kick up protests over the growing power of rideshare services. Hundreds of yellow-and-black taxi cabs disrupted traffic in Barcelona in March to protest the return of Uber to the Spanish capital after a two-year hiatus.

In Rome, hundreds of taxi drivers gathered from all over the country this month to march against the government’s law proposing to open up the sector for multinational companies.

The protesters argued that the government’s draft law would be a big blow on their sector in a period that is already difficult due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

The law, which was proposed in accordance with the EU liberalisation plans, is aimed at encouraging greater competition in the transport market and thereby improve quality at lower costs for the consumer.

Originally published as Massive driver protests freeze traffic as city moves against Uber, rideshare services