Uber, “Everyone’s Private Driver”. The slogan represents the car service company all too well. Once you have a smart phone, you then have the ability to hail a Cadillac Escalade and then be escorted around a city as if you were Barrack Obama. Not only can anyone use Uber, but anyone with a license can drive for Uber as well. Uber is combining smart phone technology and taxis to change transportation. Private car services and taxis are now losing business to the new company. Claims are being made that Uber drivers don’t have as many restrictions or have to obtain as many permits as the other companies. Germany is now placing a ban on Uber drivers. Is Uber so successful because there aren’t as many limitations, or is the company just changing the game of the car service industry for the better?
You can access and Uber driver in over 100 major cities and over 30 countries around the world. Paris, New York City, London, you name it and Uber most likely has base there. But in Berlin, Germany a ban is being placed on the usage of Uber. The Frankfurt court claims that uber doesn’t have the necessary legal permits to work in the city. While the case is being resolved in court, Uber was told that if they decide to continue operating, and lose the case then they could potentially be charged 300,000$ per ride they provided during the ban.
This isn’t the first time the American company had a ban placed on it in Germany’s court system. In April a similar case was over turned. Now that the demand for Uber is growing more popular, other car service companies are making stronger attempts to have them play by the rules.
‘‘Anyone who is willing to play by the rules is welcome in the market,’’ a Herman Waldner quote published in a NY Times article. He is the owner of one of Berlin’s leading taxi companies. That is the biggest complaint from other car service companies; they just want uber to have the same regulations and to create fair competition.
Uber claims its services are insured and that the drivers and riders wellbeing is a major concern. But it hasn’t seemed to stop the protestors yet. All precautions are taken and now it is a measure of survival of the fittest.
Taxi drivers protesting against Uber in Berlin.
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-29027803
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/08/14/uber-to-fight-ban-in-berlin/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0