Uber's Amsterdam HQ raided by transport inspectors
The Environment and Transport Inspectorate raided Uber headquarters in Amsterdam Thursday morning, NOS reports. The raid was aimed against the UberPop service. The inspectorate seized copies to get an idea of the scale of the illegal service.
With the UberPop service, individuals offer unlicensed taxi services to customers at about half the price of a regular taxi. UberPop was banned by the court in December last year, as demanded by the Environment and Transport Inspectorate.
Uber is disappointed with the raid. "This is a warning to international start-ups, technology companies and multinationals that their investments are not welcome in the Netherlands and that their customer data is not safe there," a spokesperson told RTL news. The company believes that the government is limiting the options for passengers and drivers by protecting the vested interests.
Despite the ban, Uber decided to continue with the UberPop service. The company believes that the law, which was established in the year 2000, is outdated and appealed against the court's decision. This has led to several incidents of UberPop drivers being run off the road and attacked by masked men. One UberPop driver reported seeing a TCA skylight on one of the cars involved in the attack.
