DIGITAL LIFE

UBER PROHIBITED IN NA TURKEY

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Friday that Uber "ended" in the country. The announcement comes amid pressure from taxi drivers who accuse the app of illegal competition."No one can step on the right of our taxi drivers," said the president. The country passed a law that would suspend the portfolios of people caught transporting passengers through the application."There was something called Uber or something," Erdogan said at a dinner party attended by representatives of Istanbul's bus drivers' union.We have a system of taxis, the Ministry of the Interior gave the instructions, if they get in our traffic, we will do what is necessary, nobody can step on the right of our taxi drivers, , said the president.On Tuesday (May 29), the government passed a law that practically made the application's operations in the country unfeasible. It determines the suspension of drivers' portfolios of people working for applications such as Uber. By law, the first infraction will be punished with a fine. If picked up for the second time, the driver may have the license suspended for two years.In recent months, taxi drivers' unions have staged several protests against Uber, criticizing the company for promoting unfair competition. In Istanbul, police reported several assaults by taxi drivers against drivers of the application.
Uber started operating in Istanbul in 2014. The main city in Turkey has 17,400 taxis accredited. However, the notoriously poor service quality was making way for applications like Uber. Apart from Istanbul, Uber operates in tourist towns like Bodrum and Cesme.
According to Uber, at least 2,000 drivers use the application in the country to find passengers. Another 5,000 drivers use UberXl, which offers vans to carry groups of passengers.
Last Wednesday (30/05), the company said it will continue in Turkey despite new legislation approved by the country's government.
Turkey is not the only country to get in shock with Uber. The application has already been banned or forced to leave the markets of Bulgaria, Denmark and Hungary. Uber also operates in a limited way in France, Italy, Germany, Japan and Taiwan.

dw.com