Dutch regulators raid Uber offices over court ruling

A Dutch regulatory agency raided the Amsterdam offices of taxi hailing service Uber on Thursday in connection with its UberPOP unit after a court deemed it illegal in December.

Uber allows users to summon taxi services with smartphones while its UberPOP arm links private drivers to passengers.

In December, a Dutch court became the latest in Europe to ban UberPOP on grounds that it fell foul of licensing laws for commercial drivers. It ordered Uber to stop offering it under threat of a €100,000 fine.

Transport Inspectorate spokeswoman Elif Bagci said there were signs the company continued to offer UberPOP, and the agency was taking evidence from company computers “to determine the scope” of Uber’s non-compliance with the ruling.

Amsterdam newspaper Het Parool reported the company saying the raid was a "warning to international start-ups, technology companies and multinationals that their investments may not be welcome in the Netherlands and that their customer data isn't safe there."

Uber spokesman Matthijs van Meerveld said the company had since retracted that and planned to respond from its international headquarters in San Francisco shortly.

Uber’s taxi-hailing services have mushroomed since being launched in 2010 and are offered in nearly 270 cities worldwide.

But it has also been criticised for its business style of moving first and asking permission later. It has faced complaints around the world over how it pays drivers, charges passengers and ensures their safety.

UberPOP has faced injunctions in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain.

Reuters