VIENNA (Reuters) - The ride-hailing service Uber is suspending operations in Vienna after an Austrian court issued a temporary injunction against it on Wednesday.

The case is one in a series of battles that taxi operators have waged across Europe against the U.S. company that they accuse of undermining their businesses.

“We respect the court’s decision and are working hard to change our operating model within the next few days,” an Uber spokeswoman said in a written statement.

Operations in the city of 1.9 million people would be stopped later on Wednesday and the company expected them to resume later this week, she added.

A spokesman for the court said earlier on Wednesday that pending a verdict in a lawsuit filed by a local taxi company it had ordered Uber to stop operations as soon as the plaintiff had paid a 200,000 euro (143,407 pounds) deposit.

The injunction requires Uber to stop operations until it can ensure orders for rides are booked centrally rather than directly with a driver, the court spokesman said. Cabs would also have to be sent from company premises and return between rides, he added.

“We are very pleased by the commercial court’s ruling,” the plaintiff, Taxi 40100, said in a statement.

The group’s lawyer said Uber faced fines of up to 100,000 euros for any violation of the injunction.
Uber launched in Europe in 2011, angering some local authorities and taxi drivers who said it did not abide by the same rules on insurance, licensing and safety.

Following widespread protests, court battles and bans, Uber has taken a more emollient stance under new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, suspending operations in various cities in order to comply with local regulations.

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BARROW

FOURTEEN taxi drivers are operating in Barrow despite having 33 criminal convictions between them.

A Freedom of Information request submitted to Barrow Borough Council revealed 14 of the borough's 313 licensed hackney and private hire taxi drivers have a criminal conviction.

The council is tasked with granting taxi licences only to those considered to be a "fit and proper person" and this remit includes looking at past convictions.

In its policy, the council states it will "pay particular attention to any convictions for offences with a public safety element".

When applying for a three-year licence, cabbies are obliged to disclose any and all criminal convictions, including those which are spent, and once a year must make an annual declaration notifying the council of any new criminal convictions or endorsements.

Any applicant with a serious violent conviction within the last five years or a violent conviction within the last three years is "likely to be refused a licence" while any convictions relating to the loss of life or sex offences will automatically bar anyone from obtaining a licence.

An applicant is also likely to be refused a licence if they have any drugs or alcohol-related convictions in the last three to five years.

Taxi drivers are also required to pass a series of tests including ones which assess their knowledge of local geography, the Highway Code, disability awareness and mental arithmetic.

Since January 2013 the licensing regulatory committee has made decisions relating to 14 different taxi drivers in Barrow who have between them 33 criminal convictions.

Those convictions include: battery; GBH; harassment; wounding; arson; using public telecoms system to send menacing matter; damaging property; obstructing police; using threatening behaviour; failure to notify change of circumstances affecting entitlement to benefit; handling stolen goods; drunk and disorderly; possession of class B drugs; taking a vehicle without consent; using a vehicle while uninsured; speeding and using a mobile phone behind the wheel.

An application will normally be refused where the applicant has 12 or more penalty points although the figures from the council reveal one taxi driver has been granted a licence despite having previously accrued the maximum number of points.

Public protection manager Graham Barker, who was promoted to lead the environmental health department at Barrow Council in April following the retirement of Anne Pearson, said that many of the convictions in the list were historical.

He said: "If a taxi driver notifies the council of a new conviction we will look at their entire criminal record so some of the offences on the list will be from an individual's youth or from many years before.

"When convictions are spent we have a standard whereby an individual can still get a licence but anything beyond that is taken to the licensing regulatory committee to be decided.

"Every case has to be heard on its own merits."
Bob Mullen, of the Furness Taxi Trade Association, said: "I do know that we have very strict conditions on drivers licensing. These have been tightened up in the recent past."

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York's yellow taxi drivers on Wednesday joined with drivers for Uber and other app-based ride services at a rally to call for guaranteed minimum pay and limits on growth in the number of cars for hire in the largest U.S. city.

In a steady drizzle outside City Hall in lower Manhattan, dozens of drivers carried signs with slogans such as "Respect the Drivers," and "Stop the Race to the Bottom," before presenting their demands to Mayor Bill de Blasio and the city council.

"We want regulation that will create a ground so that people have a chance to stand on something and not just sink into a miserable poverty," said Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the 19,000-member New York Taxi Workers Alliance. The group represents all categories of for-hire drivers.
Its demands include limiting the number of for-hire vehicles and ensuring that pay rates and regulations are the same for Uber[UBER.UL], Lyft and other app-based ride services as they are for yellow cabs, whose numbers are limited to about 13,600.

Since Uber and other app-based services came on the scene about five years ago, their category has swollen to more than 100,000 cars, according to Taxi and Limousine Commission chair Meera Joshi. About 2,000 cars a month are being added, she said.


Uber and Lyft said their services have improved travel options, while offering new jobs to New Yorkers.

"Uber has grown the transportation pie, ensuring all New Yorkers can get a ride in minutes, particularly in neighborhoods outside of Manhattan yellow taxi have long ignored," said spokeswoman Alix Anfang.

Lyft is in "ongoing conversations" with New York about its operations in the city, spokesman Campbell Matthews said in an email to Reuters.
Drivers, including those with Uber and Lyft, said they were working longer and making less, and four drivers have committed suicide in recent months, some saying heavy debts drove them to despair.

Inder Parmar, who has been driving for Uber for nearly five years, was among about a dozen cabbies who appealed to City Council Member Brad Lander for relief in a meeting shortly before the rally.

"We are making less than minimum wage," said Parmar. The city's legal minimum is $13 an hour and will rise to $15 by the end of the year.
Lander, a Democrat, hopes to propose legislation on Monday that would ensure a $15 hourly minimum for all drivers of for-hire vehicles.

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