Uber suspends low-cost service in France amid legal pressure

Uber is suspending its low-cost ride-hailing service in France, hoping to defuse an escalating legal dispute and sometimes-violent tensions with traditional French taxi drivers. The unusual concession comes after the stakes mounted this week in Uber’s standoff with France: Two senior European managers for the San Francisco-based company were detained Monday and ordered to stand trial, charged with “deceptive commercial practices." It reflects the broader struggle of governments to keep up with fast-moving technology — and to determine how to tax operations like Uber’s and protect workers and consumers. Companies like Uber argue that governments are unfairly protecting entrenched industries instead of adapting to the times.

We want to create a spirit of reconciliation and dialogue with public authorities to show we are acting responsibly.

Uber France head Thibaud Simphal to Le Monde daily

Uber Technologies Inc. has run into legal problems elsewhere in Europe, as well as in China and India. The French battle centers around Uber’s low-cost service, in France called UberPop, which links users to drivers without professional taxi or chauffeur licenses. French authorities had ordered it shut down, but Uber refused, pending a legal decision at a top French court. Uber France chief Thibaud Simphal said in an interview published Friday in Le Monde that the company changed its mind "in a spirit of bringing peace” with authorities. Claiming unfair competition, taxi drivers staged a violence-marred strike last week, blocking many roads across France.