More Bad News for Uber, This Time in Europe

Company is ditching Denmark after stricter new law governing taxis
By Gina Carey,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 28, 2017 11:45 AM CDT
More Bad News for Uber, This Time in Europe
Exterior view of the Uber headquarters in San Francisco.   (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Uber is ceasing operations in Denmark in April thanks to a new law that requires taxi services to follow stricter guidelines. New regulations include mandatory seat sensors and costly fare meters, reports Reuters. Additionally, a cap on the number of licenses doled out each year would make it impossible for the company to get all of its 2,000-plus drivers on board anytime soon, reports City.AM. Since launching in Denmark in 2014, Uber has attracted over 300,000 Danes to its app. But competitors considered Uber’s successful entry unfair to the country’s 6,000 taxi drivers, who were already following stricter regulations.

"When they [Uber] started two and a half years ago it was illegal and was ruled illegal several times,” says Jan Villadsen, president of a Denmark union transportation section. “The new law has not changed that." Denmark’s regulations are yet another whopper to add to Uber’s woes in 2017, which include losing its president, allegations of sexist practices at the company, and a crash that has halted self-driving car testing. But Uber remains hopeful. “It is not necessarily a farewell to Denmark, but a message to politicians that we must draw consequences from the law that is on the table, and that we can’t live with it as it appears now,” said an Uber spokesperson, per the Financial Times. (More Uber stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X