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Thousands of Portugal taxi drivers stage protest against ride-sharing app

Xinhua, September 9, 2015 Adjust font size:

Thousands of angry taxi drivers across Portugal took to the streets on Tuesday to call for U.S. based online taxi service Uber to be banned.

Around 3,000 taxi drivers in capital city Lisbon drove towards the Ministry of Finance beeping their horns and disrupting downtown traffic.

Several hundreds of taxi drivers also protested in the northern city of Porto and southern city Faro.

The protest was backed by the national association of road hauliers (ANTRAL), which claims that Uber operates illegally and accuses it of unfair competition, as they can skip regulation that professionals require and charge lower fees.

The San Francisco-based company, however, has insisted it pays its taxes and operates legally.

Local media reported recently that the Portuguese court had placed a nationwide ban against the U.S.-based online taxi service but that Uber had appealed to Brussels, as the company faces dozens of lawsuits filed across Europe.

Protests by traditional taxi drivers have taken place around the world including France, India, Canada and South Africa. Enditem