While many cities are quickly adapting to Uber and its practices, some cities are still reluctant to allow Uber to operate. Back in December of 2014, Paris banned UberPOP from operating due to safety concerns regarding the ease in which a civilian could become a driver. However, since the ban has been in effect, Uber has decided to ignore the law and not pull out of Paris. In fact, they are actually secretly encouraging their drivers to continue picking up passengers! How are they getting away with this defiance?
Apparently, Uber is telling their drivers that they will pay any fines that the drivers may incur while driving during the ban. While the company never directly says this to the public, an UberPop driver in Paris was quoted telling the New York Times that Uber has paid for his and other UberPOP driver’s tickets. The New York Times article goes on to further indicate that Uber routinely tells their drivers that they have nothing to worry about, and that they should simply go talk to Uber representatives in Paris if they are issued a ticket for driving during the ban. It seems as though Uber, in typical “What The Uber” fashion, is trying to convey a strong “Stop me if you can” message to the government.
Surprisingly, after a little digging we found out that Paris is not the first city where Uber has deployed this tactic. According to an article published by TechCrunch, Uber is also paying for these fines in the Netherlands, Charleston, Victoria and Burlington, however, Uber is trying to keep this little known fact quiet. A representative at TechCrunch contacted Uber for comment regarding this new report, and while Uber didn’t directly confirm these accusations, they did hint that the company was paying for these fines by stating “We are and will always be supporting our drivers”.
UPDATE: Two Uber executives— Uber France’s CEO Thibaud Simphal and Uber Europe GM Peirre-Dimitri Gore-Coty — were arrested in Paris on Monday, June 29th for running an “illegal taxi company”. Seems as though these rebels may be in for a wake up call!
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