Turin, February 17 - 1,500 licenced taxis drivers converged on the northern Italian city of Turin today in protest against the Uber car-hailing app they fear is co-opting their livelihood while sidestepping regulations.
Protesting drivers wore red clown noses, threw yellow and blue smoke bombs and brandished placards reading 'Je suis taxi legale'.
"We are calling on (Transport Minister Maurizio) Lupi to intervene to suppress what he too says is illegal," said Walter Drovetto, head of the taxi driver branch of the rightwing trade union UGL.
"If these people want to do the same job as us let them also pay 50% in taxes and submit to the necessary controls," he continued.
Many of the taxis hailed from the Ligurian capital Genoa where on Monday a judge ruled in favour of an Uber driver and restored his licence.
The service allowing vehicle owners to offer paid rides to customers through a smartphone app that connects them amounted to "voluntary sharing of a personal automobile for private mobility within a social network," the judge said.
My Taxi Driver Father, Pays Tax
