The demonstrators came from Spain, France, Switzerland, Italy and Greece. They are asking the European Commission to investigate Uber’s practices. Leaked documents reveal that the alternative taxi service has contacted several politicians to influence them.
“There are a lot of things that have been identified in taxi transportation, but with the influence of Uber,” said Alexandre Taha, who runs a taxi company in Brussels. “Now we want to know what happened. We’ve been saying this for a long time, but we don’t have proof yet.”
A Spanish taxi driver said: “Uber is an unfaithful competitor and the European administration should form a committee to investigate what was revealed from the Uber files.” “It started 10 years ago,” complains a colleague from Brussels. “We always have to respond to defend our jobs. Uber always attracts more customers.” “They take our business, operate illegally, don’t stick to the rules, but they’re still protected by politics,” says a Swiss driver. “We won a case in the Federal Court, but it was not pursued and the law is not enforced. It is the same everywhere: in Brussels, in Spain, in Italy. It is an epidemic disease.”
This afternoon, a delegation of Brussels taxi drivers will visit the Brussels Council of Ministers Rudi Vervoort (PS) with their complaints.
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