This week's top three: UK court upholds congestion charge for ride hailing vehicles; Copenhagen places restrictions on e-scooter parking; Uber told to get branch office and business licence to operate in Austria
1. UK court upholds congestion charge for ride hailing vehicles
The High Court has upheld the Mayor of London's decision to extend the congestion charge to ride hailing vehicles. In April 2019 the Mayor of London removed the exemption which private hire vehicles had enjoyed from London’s congestion charging zone, meaning that the vehicles would have to pay £11.50 per day to enter the city centre. The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain challenged the decision, pointing to the fact that taxi drivers, who are mostly white, remained exempt whilst PHV drivers, who are mostly from ethnic minority backgrounds, did not, and that therefore the Mayor's decision was racially discriminatory. However, the court ruled that the removal of PHVs’ exemption was a “proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.”
2. Copenhagen places restrictions on e-scooter parking
Copenhagen Municipality has implemented new guidelines which restrict the number of electric scooters that can be parked in busy public places. A maximum of 200 electric scooters may be placed within the historic central part of Copenhagen’s Inner City. This new limit also applies to dockless bikes. A total number of 3,000 electric scooters and bikes will be permitted in the rest of the city. The rules are part of a one year trial assessing the use of e-scooters in cycle lanes, which Denmark legalised at the start of 2019. They are expected to take effect in the next few months.
3. Uber told to get branch office and business licence to operate in Austria
The Vienna Commercial Court has ruled that Uber may not operate in Austria without a branch office and business licence. The Managing Director of Taxi-40100, which brought a complaint against Uber for operating illegally, said that “the same rules of the game must apply to everyone.” Dieter Heine, one of the lawyers representing Taxi-40100, said that he expects Uber to appeal the decision.
This is a weekly note covering the top three developments in the regulation of on-demand transport in Europe. It covers taxis, ride-sharing, car sharing, carpooling, bikes, e-bikes, scooters, shared mopeds and anything else that's relevant to the sector. We also produce weekly global round-ups of developments in particular sectors of the sharing economy and offer a free two-week trial.
If you'd like to receive the Top 3 Stories direct to your inbox then please enter your email address below:
Comments