Turkish prosecutors file indictment against Uber official over “unfair competition”

ANKARA, Oct. 5– Turkish prosecutors have filed an indictment against an official of ride-sharing service Uber on the grounds of unfair competition, demanding a prison sentence of up to two years, semi-official Anadolu Agency reported on Tuesday. An investigation was launched on complaints regarding the allegation that Uber Turkey engaged in scheduled…

ANKARA, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) — Turkish prosecutors have filed an indictment against an official of ride-sharing service Uber on the grounds of unfair competition, demanding a prison sentence of up to two years, semi-official Anadolu Agency reported on Tuesday.

An investigation was launched on complaints regarding the allegation that Uber Turkey engaged in scheduled passenger transportation and mediated through the mobile device application, the indictment prepared by the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office said.

It was stated that the company’s scheduled passenger transportation with the vehicles called “Uber XL” in Istanbul constitutes the “crime of unfair competition.”

The “SS New Generation Taxi Drivers Transportation and Operations Cooperative” was listed as complainant, while Uber Turkey official Francois Pascal Chadwick, a U.S. citizen, took place as a “suspect.”

The indictment stated that the “Uber Turkey Software and Technology Company” official at the time of “crime” was Chadwick, who lived in the United States and had never been to Turkey.

The suspect sent his defense of the complaint in writing to the prosecutor’s office, and he did not accept the charges, claiming that they did not have any actions within the scope of “unfair competition,” said the indictment.

The tension between taxi drivers and Uber drivers erupted in Istanbul when the cabbies started a campaign against the transport company in 2018 complaining that they are losing customers to Uber which eludes costly regulations and requirements for vehicles.

Thousands of taxi drivers took to Istanbul’s streets in protest as the service became increasingly popular among tourists. They were particularly objecting to Uber XL service which ferried customers in cozy leather-seated luxury vans.

Nearly 17,400 official yellow taxis operate in Turkey’s most populous city, Istanbul.

Turkey’s United Taxi Drivers Association opened a lawsuit against the company. The court of Istanbul decided to suspend Uber’s services on Oct. 16, 2019, and to block access to www.uber.com, Uber mobile applications and Uber XL, on the grounds that it constitutes unfair competition.

The company applied to the Court of Appeals, saying it wants to continue service with the yellow and turquoise taxis and the local court overturned its ban in 2020.

The court said the California-based tech firm can work with the cabbies, but Uber’s XL vehicle service “constitutes unfair competition.”

Uber has re-launched its service in Turkey, compromising to go on with the yellow taxi drivers who were behind the campaign. Enditem