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Hundreds of taxis join anti-Uber protest in Brussels

Xinhua, September 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

Hundreds of taxis brought traffic to a standstill in the Belgian capital on Wednesday, in a protest against the online ride-sharing service Uber, Xinhua's journalist noted on the spot.

Taxis from Britain, France, Portugal and Spain were among those seen in the procession, which began in the height of the morning rush hour and caused severe disruption on the city's inner ring road.

The drivers are heading towards the Schuman roundabout, overlooking the European Commission building, and are expected to stay in place until about 15:00 local time (1300 GMT).

According to Belgian public broadcaster RTBF, road access to Brussels airport was blocked on Wednesday morning, forcing many passengers to walk to the terminal building. Traffic was also disrupted on many of the main roads heading into the capital from the motorway network.

There have been violent clashes between licensed taxi drivers and Uber operators in the Belgian capital, after what the newspaper describes as a "wave of protests" by taxi drivers in Paris, where the Uberpop service has since been banned.

Taxis United, an association representing the Belgian taxi sector, gave an ultimatum to the Belgian federal government in July, threatening to take action if action was not taken to ban Uber by the start of September. Endit