News that American “alternative taxi service” Uber has been banned from Portugal with immediate effect has caused a wave of protests on social media.
Lisbon’s Court of Appeal accepted an injunction put forward by national taxi association Antral yesterday, outlawing Uber’s Smartphone cabs on pain of hefty fines.
The service that connects passengers to drivers with vehicles for hire through a special App has been criticised for “ruining” regular businesses, as Uber undercuts regular taxis and is not subject to the same rules and regulations.
Thus the embargo has been hailed as a huge victory for Antral.
But punters see it in a different light. A Facebook page and online ‘We want Uber in Portugal’ petition is already generating widespread support. As we wrote this report on Thursday, the petition had raised over 3,200 signatures, while Facebook showed over 8,200 likes.
Uber meantime says it still hasn’t been notified of the court decision. It is understood to be threatened with a €10,000 daily fine if it doesn’t comply.
The company’s representative for Portugal Rui Monteiro wrote on the company blog: “We find it strange that no one from Uber was heard by the court before a decision was made.”
The company will be analysing the court’s decision, he said, affirming Uber is “committed” to continuing in Portugal.
Uber’s easy-to-use service was launched in Portugal last summer.
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