Italian court upholds Uber bid to temporarily suspend ban
A Rome court has upheld Uber's bid to temporarily suspend a ban on its services in Italy.
On April 7th, the court gave the ride-hailing company ten days to end the use of various smartphone apps in Italy, along with promoting and advertising them, arguing that they contribute to traditional taxi firms facing unfair competition.
The US group immediately sought to appeal the ruling, which had ordered the suspension within 10 days of the Uber Black app, as well as the Uber-Lux, Uber-SUV, Uber-X, Uber-XL, UberSelect and Uber-Van services.
The court on Friday upheld Uber's bid.
"We are very happy to be able to tell all Uber drivers and users in Italy that they will be able to continue to use the application pending the court's ruling on our appeal", the company said.
Italian taxi drivers held a six-day strike in February in protest over perceived perks for Uber and over unofficial car-hire services, leading to disruption across the country. The unofficial set of protests saw clashes between drivers and police, and threats against drivers who continued to work.
The Rome ruling followed a decision by a court in Milan two years ago to ban the company's UberPop application, which was deemed under Italian law to encourage the provision of taxi services by unlicensed drivers. That ruling was upheld in a subsequent court case in Turin.
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On April 7th, the court gave the ride-hailing company ten days to end the use of various smartphone apps in Italy, along with promoting and advertising them, arguing that they contribute to traditional taxi firms facing unfair competition.
The US group immediately sought to appeal the ruling, which had ordered the suspension within 10 days of the Uber Black app, as well as the Uber-Lux, Uber-SUV, Uber-X, Uber-XL, UberSelect and Uber-Van services.
The court on Friday upheld Uber's bid.
"We are very happy to be able to tell all Uber drivers and users in Italy that they will be able to continue to use the application pending the court's ruling on our appeal", the company said.
Italian taxi drivers held a six-day strike in February in protest over perceived perks for Uber and over unofficial car-hire services, leading to disruption across the country. The unofficial set of protests saw clashes between drivers and police, and threats against drivers who continued to work.
The Rome ruling followed a decision by a court in Milan two years ago to ban the company's UberPop application, which was deemed under Italian law to encourage the provision of taxi services by unlicensed drivers. That ruling was upheld in a subsequent court case in Turin.
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