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Uber ordered to close its UberPop service in Brussels

Xinhua, September 25, 2015 Adjust font size:

A Belgian court has ordered Uber to close its ride-sharing service UberPop in Brussels within 21 days or face heavy fines, the company confirmed on Thursday.

The city's commercial court upheld an earlier ruling that UberPop is illegal in the Belgian capital, local newspaper group Sudpresse reported.

If UberPop does not close, the firm could be fined 10,000 euros (about 11,250 U.S. dollars) each time a driver is caught by police, up to a maximum of 1 million euros (1.125 million U.S. dollars).

Uber said in a statement on Thursday that the ruling did not affect its UberX service, which uses professionally licensed drivers. Only UberPop, where individuals can charge for rides in their personal vehicle, is affected.

Uber spokesman Filip Nuytemans said in a news release: "We are looking at the implications of this ruling which hurts hundreds of our driver-partners and tens of thousands of people who have come to rely on UberPop to get around Brussels safely and affordably."

He said the law being applied in Belgium "was adopted before smartphones even appeared", adding: "We hope that the government will modernise the law in a such a way that will allow Uber to reduce traffic in one of the most congested cities in Europe."

Brussels regional mobility minister Pascal Smet told Belgian broadcaster RTBF: "This court ruling confirms the government's point of view." He added that the law could be modernised by the end of this year.

The court judgment followed a complaint lodged by a local taxi firms, Les Taxis Verts. RTBF reports that the company said in a statement that the taxi sector was "pleased with the ruling".

The company added: "Uber is doing what it thinks necessary to protect its interests, but the judgment is clear. If Uber is able to charge cheaper prices, it's because the company is not fulfilling its legal obligations in terms of social security contributions, insurance and tax."

Taxis drivers from across Belgium and several other European countries converged on Brussels on Sept. 16 and brought traffic to a standstill to protest about Uber. Endit