UBER. The famous passenger transport service was banned for the first time in a city in Romania, the decision of a court practically preventing the company from operating at the moment. More precisely, UBER lost in Cluj-Napoca a lawsuit opened by taxi drivers angry that people choose more decent services to get to various locations in the city, so it can no longer engage in "unfair competition practices" in this city for the time being.
UBER. How the company managed to lose the case after its lawyers in Bucharest managed to keep the service functional, for now is not clear, but the decision of the Court of Appeal from Cluj is final and enforceable for the company. At the moment, those at UBER must operate as a taxi company, and have drivers with a taxi driver's license in order to continue operating, and half of the conditions are probably already met.
UBER IS PROHIBITED in the First City in Romania
UBER. Many of the drivers on the platform are former taxi drivers, but other investments are also needed for the car, or for the company, in order to be able to carry out the taximetry activity, and the costs are not that low. UBER was also targeted by a claim for damages in the amount of 80.000 euros, and although the judges decided that there was a damage, after reducing the number of taxi drivers' customers, they did not determine its value for the time being.
Orders the cessation and prohibition of the unfair competition practices carried out by the defendant SCUSRSRL (Uber Systems Romania - no) consisting in the provision of support services related to the verification of the documentation presented by suppliers and the condition of the vehicle, as well as in information sessions for suppliers who wish to use the UBER application, all related to the provision of transport services within the radius of Cluj Napoca.
UBER. The decision given by the Court of Appeal in Cluj could "weigh" extremely heavily in Romania, and it could give courage to those in Bucharest to follow a similar path in order to succeed in banning the platform including in the capital. For those from UBER, this is a very hard blow, and that's because in Cluj-Napoca there are a lot of open-minded people who use services of this kind, but there the taxi drivers have won a battle in the war.
UBER. It will be interesting to see what the company will have to say about the lost trial in Cluj-Napoca, and possibly about the measures it will take to be able to operate there again, or to protect itself in Bucharest.
UPDATE: Those from UBER made the following statement:
"The decision is disappointing, but we want to reassure passengers and driver partners who rely on Uber in Cluj that the app can continue to operate. In the meantime, we have changed the way we operate and currently only work with authorized carriers. Many EU countries have regulated ridesharing services like Uber, thus offering more mobility options to their citizens. We trust that Romania will soon join this trend" - stated Uber officials.
Context data:
- A first analysis of the decision of the Court of Appeal shows that part of the actions requested by the plaintiffs were rejected and that the Uber service is NOT prohibited in Cluj. However, it appears that the decision ordered the cessation of direct support activities for driver partners offered by Uber Systems Romania in Cluj
- The Romanian government recently committed to regulate ridesharing services, in the coming weeks, through an emergency ordinance
- Countries such as Finland, Portugal, Estonia, Lithuania, Croatia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic or Poland have adopted or are in the process of adopting reforms that open the market to new mobility alternatives, such as ridesharing applications.”