Top court of European Union terms Uber as transport service

Luxembourg : Uber should be classified as a transport service and regulated like other taxi operators, the European Union’s top court said in a landmark ruling yesterday that could impact other online businesses in Europe.

Uber had argued it was simply a digital app that acted as an intermediary between drivers and customers. “The service provided by Uber connecting individuals with non-professional drivers is covered by services in the field of transport,” the European Court of Justice (ECJ) said.

“Member states can, therefore, regulate the conditions for providing that service,” it said. The case follows a complaint from a professional taxi drivers’ association in Barcelona that Uber’s activities in Spain amounted to misleading practices and unfair competition from Uber’s use of non-professional drivers - a service Uber calls UberPOP and which has since been suspended in Spain and other countries.