A Slovak court has ordered Uber to suspend its operations in the country, a court spokesman said on Tuesday, responding to an action by taxi drivers who say the ride-hailing service represents unfair competition.
Though the decision came into effect on March 6 it was announced only on Tuesday and Uber services were still available in the Slovak capital Bratislava.
"The defendant is obliged to refrain from allowing people who do not meet legal requirements (...) to carry out taxi services in Slovakia," court spokesman Pavol Adamciak said.
The Bratislava-based Association of certified taxi drivers filed the lawsuit in January, arguing Uber drivers do not meet the requirements for professional taxi drivers and the cars do not meet the safety and regulatory requirements for professional transport services.
Uber in Slovakia declined to comment until it received the court decision.
Uber has faced regulatory and legal setbacks around the world amid opposition from traditional taxi services.
The European Union's top court said in a landmark ruling in December that Uber should be classified as a transport service and regulated like other taxi operators.
Meanwhile......in London:
Last year in London, TfL deemed Uber unfit to run a taxi service and stripped it of its license to operate. Uber is appealing against the decision.
We’ve been informed that the Uber’s appeal will not be heard until after the workers rights case. This could mean the case dragging in till mid 2019
In the last two weeks, it has emerged the TfL licensed Uber London Ltd, are not and have not been dispatching jobs to drivers. Emails obtains by FOI request show that all journeys have been dispatched by an unlicensed Dutch company... Uber BV.
Emails published on Tim Fenton’s Zelo Street Blog show that top officials at TfL have known about this illegal activity since 2013, yet have repeatedly failed to act, sweeping scandal after scandal under the carpet (13,000 Fake DBS certificates- fake medicals- on off insurance- no landline).
See TfL putting the public at risk : http://taxileaks.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/tfl-have-knowingly-been-putting-public.html
Many London Taxi drivers are stunned at the lack of action from their representative orgs.
This is leading some drivers to believe the relationship between their representation and our regulators has become too close.
Taxi driver Peter Collins said: “what happened to the LTDA million pound war chest?
“Why are we constantly being asked to wait and see?
"Why haven't we seen our trade leaders banging on Mike Brown's door demanding a cease and desist order placed on Uber's operation? Too busy promoting a vehicle we can't afford !!!
“The Trade needs action now, before it’s too late. Uber could drag out their appeal for years, biding time until the London Taxi trade is just a memory”.