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'Thuggery disguised as protest': Why are so many people against Uber?

Several European countries have tried to ban the app, but where does Ireland stand?

A FINE GAEL MEP has hit out at some of her colleagues who want to ban taxi app Uber.

The taxi-sharing service has come under fire on both sides of the Atlantic, with protests in several countries.

France Uber Riot police standing by an overturned car during a taxi drivers demonstration in Paris. Michel Euler Michel Euler

Last month a mass protest in Paris saw taxi drivers blockade major transport hubs. The demonstration got out of hand, with cars being torched.

Courtney Love got caught up in the riot – live-tweeting the whole thing.

UberPOP was banned in France as a result of the protests. It differs from the main app because it allows non-professional drivers to register their car and transport other passengers.

Registered taxi drivers claim the app is unfair competition, while regulating it remains a grey area.

The EU Transport committee is currently debating the issue and a number of MEPs want Uber gone.

Fine Gael’s Deirdre Clune has criticised her colleagues for taking this stance, saying a pan-European overhaul of taxi regulation system is needed instead of an outright ban.

Uber is part of the ‘sharing economy’, which includes companies such as Airbnb. The sector is currently estimated to be worth about €10 billion in Europe and is forecasted to grow to €250 billion in the next decade.

European Parliament / YouTube

Clune, a member of the EU Transport Committee, has said taxi unions across Europe are trying to “wipe Uber out of existence”.

Some of my colleagues on that committee believe that we can and should regulate Uber out of the market completely. This is nonsense.

“The actions of the taxi protestors in France recently were little more than thuggery disguised as legitimate protest.

We cannot regulate Uber out of existence just because the traditional industries don’t like the competition. Those industries must evolve to meet the challenge of the sharing economy and adapt to what the consumer really wants.

“Love it or hate it, the sharing economy is here to stay. It’s time to work with it and harness the opportunities that the sharing economy can bring.”

The Irish connection

There were 28,953 active taxi driver licences in Ireland as of 30 April.

Jerry Brennan was one of the National Irish Taxi Association’s (NITA) representatives on the advisory committee that helped to compile the Taxi Regulation Act 2013.

He said it was “fortuitous” that Uber and a similar app WunderCar “appeared on the horizon” around the same time as it enabled the legislation to regulate their business.

Uber suspended in France Andrew Matthews Andrew Matthews

As a result, all drivers who use these apps must be licenced in the same way all taxi drivers are.

Brennan said apps that use unlicensed drivers place the public in a “very, very vulnerable position”.

He said regulations in Ireland also ensure cars using these type of apps have to use a meter connected directly to the milometer, as opposed to a virtual meter that uses GPS coordinates.

Complaints

Uber has faced legal inquiries in several European countries over the last year. The company responded by filing complaints with the European Commission against France, Germany and Spain.

Earlier this month, Uber’s director of public policy for Europe Simon Hampton spoke to a panel at the European Parliament.

If you’re in a city Uber hasn’t come to yet, then creating a group of people to say they want Uber and to put pressure on local politicians – that’s hard.

“If you’re in a city where Uber has been and is about to be taken away from, possibly you’ve got the capacity to persuade people to come out and speak up,” he said.

Read: Why Uber could be about to become the most valuable startup in history

Read: Germany has banned Uber… again

Read: Why ridesharing has run into some major roadblocks in Ireland

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50 Comments
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    Mute Aaron O'Leary
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    Jul 17th 2015, 6:22 AM

    Traditional business must adapt, banning new markets styles of doing traditional businesses to keep the old version going is ludacris, either taxi companies get up off their ass and adapt or they die off, simple.

    166
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    Mute Aaron O'Leary
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    Jul 17th 2015, 6:24 AM

    *banning new styles

    16
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    Mute Paul Doyle
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    Jul 17th 2015, 6:42 AM

    Anything that helps undermine the cartels, taxi unions etc, that have milked us for decades deserves applause in my opinion

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    Mute Scarr
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    Jul 17th 2015, 7:04 AM

    Paul – its the taxi regulator who sets alot of the charges, not unions etc

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    Mute Denise Cronin
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    Jul 17th 2015, 7:09 AM

    But how can they do that when they are regulated up the whazoo. They can’t compete on charges because their charges are set by the Taxi Regulator. So how is it fair for Uber to be unregulated come into the market & undercut the existing taxis?

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    Mute Euro McPúnty
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    Jul 17th 2015, 8:35 AM

    Über is a huge multinational corporation. Their profits don’t get seen or spent in the UK. It’s taking the money from the local taxi men’s pockets who in turn can’t spend money and create revenue. It’s a bigger issue than just “they took our jobs”. Plus they can set their own rates. I read that in heavy London traffic an uber driver charged a woman £150 for a trip that should have been £20. Keep it local I say.

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    Mute TheDoctor
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    Jul 17th 2015, 9:38 AM

    I’m delighted to see taxi drivers finally get what they deserve.

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    Mute Aaron O'Leary
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    Jul 17th 2015, 9:42 AM

    Where did you read that? That’s obviously fabricated. Go with what provides me the best option, regardless of it being local or not is what I say, hate this support local crap, its used by businesses to keep you spending money there regardless of price or adaption to competition.

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    Mute Aaron O'Leary
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    Jul 17th 2015, 9:46 AM

    Also, uber drivers do not decide their own fares http://www.ridesharingdriver.com/how-much-does-uber-cost-uber-fare-estimator/ it just differentiates between cities, to adapt to the economy.

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    Mute Bill Madden
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    Jul 17th 2015, 10:44 AM

    @ scarr….Same ( gov) regulator that handed out thousands of Taxis to people just “off the boat” and stuck them in every city and town (in taxpayer funded accommodation ( in the country.

    Ah! You thought they all arrived from Asia and Africa (where they could live like a king) with 10/15 grand in their ass pocket??,…….. making it even more difficult for Taxi people to make a decent living!

    17
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    Mute Euro McPúnty
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    Jul 17th 2015, 11:36 AM

    @aaron I read it online, that during a tube strike in London, Uber drivers upped their fares over 300% extorting people trying to get to and from work. A simple google search should provide the article. I’m not in the business of fabricating stories.

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    Mute Euro McPúnty
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    Jul 17th 2015, 11:40 AM

    And of course you should support local business as much as possible.

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    Mute ITS Student
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    Jul 18th 2015, 11:24 AM

    it’s unfair competition.

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    Mute John
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    Jul 17th 2015, 7:03 AM

    Uber will be grand until the first serious accident and the people realise that the line ‘For Hire or Reward’ is in EVERY insurance policy in Ireland, and if it isn’t allowed by your insurance company then they will DENY payment full stop. There will be people then campaigning for ‘Regulation’ of Uber just like they did about Nursing Homes when that went pear shaped.

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    Mute cholly appleseed
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    Jul 17th 2015, 8:55 AM

    But in ireland only people with a taxi or hackney can drive for uber.

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    Mute John
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    Jul 17th 2015, 11:15 AM

    Exactly, so it is not like opening up to all and sundry in Ireland like other sharing ideas as people might think

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    Mute david garland
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    Jul 17th 2015, 12:25 PM

    When uber first launched they only wanted limo drivers and exclusive cars. When that didn’t work out they resorted to Taxis. Uber would prefer not to use taxis but private cars to use their app but in Ireland taxis are regulated.. However we can’t be sure in the future ubers main backer Google will do some deal with the Government to allow them branch out to private cars..

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    Mute neuromancer
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    Jul 17th 2015, 12:39 PM

    And as far as I know, it’s know available to Dublin taxi drivers.

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    Mute ITS Student
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    Jul 18th 2015, 11:23 AM

    In other european countries, taxi licenses cost hundreds of thousands per year. If Uber was regulated like taxi licenses, the governments of spain, belgum, france wouldn’t be cracking down so hard on them.

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    Mute stopit
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    Jul 17th 2015, 6:54 AM

    Can the Journal or Deirdre Clune clarify who has called for the ban?

    Maybe instead of talking about “thuggery” Deirdre Clune could explain why the United Nations Women organisation refused to enter a partnership with Uber?

    Or discuss why some states are forcing Uber to recognise basic employment rights of drivers i.e. instead of increasing the precariousness of employment by only having contractors with no basic protections

    Or tell me if an organisation that threatens to use private investigators to spy on journalists that were critical of the company is ethical?

    or if a company that regularly called for drivers from competitor companies only to cancel the rise at the last minute is ethical?

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    Mute ITS Student
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    Jul 18th 2015, 11:28 AM

    the Irish people have called for the ban. Would you trust an unregulated entity?

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    Mute Colm Flaherty
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    Jul 17th 2015, 8:47 AM

    We don’t need Uber. We have Hailo, and Hailo cornered the market long before uber came along. Yes, uber is here and fighting to be the only game in town, but hailo’s cooperative approach has me taking taxis where I never would have before.

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    Mute Paul Nicholls
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    Jul 17th 2015, 1:47 PM

    Hailo was down the last time I needed it , I used Uber for the first time – nice to have a choice

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    Mute Aaron O'Leary
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    Jul 17th 2015, 6:40 AM

    If anyone here agrees with the sentiment of uber having to be banned to preserve traditional taxi companies, remember you are on the journal, part of the new age of news blogs, the same things that have put many a newspaper company out of business, should they too be banned?

    65
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    Mute Drew TheChinaman :)
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    Jul 17th 2015, 6:53 AM

    Yes but it’s also notoriously left wing… Big business is evil, profitable companies are the devil, hedge funds, people making money investing in start ups to get them off the ground and then selling their stake is everything that is wrong with the world.

    36
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    Mute Shea Fitzgerald
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    Jul 17th 2015, 7:53 AM

    Aaron, the vast majority of taxi drivers in Ireland are self employed individuals. The companies you speak of simply hire radios to drivers and they are feeling the pinch from new technologies that connect passengers with taxis (Hailo/Lynk etc). If Uber facilitates unlicensed drivers/taxis to operate, it exposes passengers to travel in cars not correctly insured.

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    Mute Aaron O'Leary
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    Jul 17th 2015, 11:00 AM

    Than those individuals should adapt.

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    Mute Shea Fitzgerald
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    Jul 17th 2015, 3:08 PM

    There are regulations regarding how a taxi driver goes about his/her business so…I don’t really know what you mean by adapting. Adapt to what?

    Uber only gets you the taxi (or gets the driver the fare) once you’re in, taxi regulations apply.

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    Mute Drew TheChinaman :)
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    Jul 17th 2015, 6:33 AM

    Uber’s strategy is to get majority support from the public and an extremely loyal customer base.

    Frankly I love the service would never use taxis again in some cities. The drivers are thugs and criminals.

    42
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    Mute stopit
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    Jul 17th 2015, 6:56 AM

    you think all Uber drivers are saints?

    Have a look at this http://www.whosdrivingyou.org/rideshare-incidents

    I think you have been sucked in by their massive marketing budget.

    54
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    Mute Drew TheChinaman :)
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    Jul 17th 2015, 7:09 AM

    Oh look another american conspiracy website designed to subvert and create panic where none exists…

    Do you have one about GM foods, gluten, fracking, anti-depressants, plastic bottles, fluoride, sweeteners, vaccines, killer bees… per chance?

    42
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    Mute Shane Hickey
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    Jul 17th 2015, 7:40 AM

    I took an uber last Sunday and paid £11 for the journey. it would have been £40 in a regular cab

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    Mute Julie Denning
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    Jul 17th 2015, 4:49 PM

    can i ask you shane hickey would you have been insured if there had been an accident

    9
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    Mute David G
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    Jul 17th 2015, 7:02 AM

    Taxi drivers giving taxi drivers a bad name. Image

    33
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    Mute M
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    Jul 17th 2015, 7:10 AM

    Taxis will be start being fully automated in 10-15 years and then they’ll really start moaning.

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    Mute Gareth Murran
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    Jul 17th 2015, 8:10 AM

    There’s no need to debate Uber. Traditional businesses need to adapt or die when it comes to newer, better business models.

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    Mute Dan Mc
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    Jul 17th 2015, 9:45 AM

    What’s wrong with some competition? Uber is embracing new technology and using it to create a new product in a market that is crying out for change. And Uber have done it. They are also looking towards future use of what “cars” will be used for. In 20 years time people won’t own cars they will just hire them or participate in ride sharing. Car ownership is dropping, people are moving closer to cities and with decent public transport, private cars will be gone or hardly ever used. Uber knows this, that’s why they are expanding so rapidly.

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    Mute Joseph O'Regan
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    Jul 17th 2015, 2:07 PM

    Uber will put people out of work.

    9
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    Mute graham galvin
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    Jul 17th 2015, 5:41 PM

    So will robotics & AI. So do we just destroy all technological progress because it costs jobs? If technology can do a job better & faster then it should be encouraged.

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    Mute Jerry Hoffman
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    Jul 17th 2015, 12:59 PM

    The market has spoken. If taxis were more convenient and people didn’t want Uber, they wouldn’t be making so much money and would fold. But obviously the people want Uber, so the taxi companies need to figure out how to be more user friendly and competitive. If laws and regulations are hindering that, then they need to lobby government to get that changed, not turn to violent thuggery against the competition.

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    Mute John Teevan
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    Jul 17th 2015, 12:32 PM

    If you don’t like them don’t use them.simples

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    Mute Fred Coloe
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    Jul 17th 2015, 6:17 PM

    Ubers’ basic plan is to circumvent all regulations, undercut all incumbents in order to force them out of business thereby monopolising the market. Then prices will rocket! During the recent tube strike in London, Uber increased fares by 200-300%. Is that really competition??

    8
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    Mute Ciarán Ó Murchú
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    Jul 18th 2015, 12:31 AM

    I have never managed to get a taxi with Uber it always say “no cars available “.. Hailo always works..

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