Rome court temporarily overturns Uber ban

A Rome court on Friday temporarily lifted a ban that would have made car-sharing service Uber illegal in Italy, allowing the company to continue operating in the country until its appeal is heard.

Uber along with UNC and Codacons, the country's two leading consumer advocacy groups, celebrated the latest development as a victory. But legal experts stressed that the temporary lift was not based on the merits of Uber's appeal but rather designed to allow the company to keep operating while the appeal makes its way through Italy's legal system.

"The goal is simply to avoid a situation in which Uber could be forced to shut down, and then it wins the appeal and it has to start up again," Antonio Tersi, a judiciary consultant with Hildebrant and Ferrar, said in an interview.

Last week, a lower court ruled Uber's service represented unfair competition to taxi companies. It ordered the company to stop offering and advertising its services within 10 days. Now, that deadline will be put on hold until the appeal process is complete, something Tersi said could take a year or more.

The outcome of the battle between Uber and Italian taxi companies is expected to have an impact on the way the courts in other parts of the European Union look at Uber and similar companies. Endit