Uber drivers break Amsterdam taxi rules: report
With hidden cameras, television program Zembla caught Uber drivers in Amsterdam breaking the city's taxi regulations. The drivers sometimes pick up passengers from the street, without them ordering an Uber taxi with the app, while the Amsterdam regulations state that only drivers from the eight official taxi centers in the city are allowed to do so, Het Parool reports.
Transporting passengers without the app is lucrative for Uber drivers, as they can charge higher rates, according to Zembla. Uber told the program that drivers guilty of doing this can be suspended, but that enforcement is in the hands of the municipality.
According to responsible alderman Pieter Litjens, this type of enforcement is complicated. "We have to catch Uber drivers in the act and that is difficult", he said to Zembla.
Zembla also accused Uber of using a company in Amsterdam to avoid paying United Kingdom sales tax. According to Zembla, Uber uses a fiscal construction whereby the company benefits from tax exemptions in both the British and Dutch tax laws. As a result, the British treasury missed out on 23 million pounds last year, according to the program.
Thijs Emondts, Uber director in the Netherlands, told the program that the company is not doing anything illegal. "Like many international companies based in the Netherlands, we have a tax structure that complies with international legislation. I can not say more about it."
