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| Uber has suspended most of its services in Belgium |
After a court ruled to extend the 2015 UberPop ban, Uber suspended ride-sharing services in most parts of Belgium to include professional riders.
The company is reviewing the details of the decision to see if it can appeal to the country's Supreme Court.
The move also follows the temporary suspension of Uber's service in Brussels in September. Describing it as a special and unprecedented measure, the tech giant said it was taking action to protest the lack of reform of rules banning drivers from using smartphones.
Drivers of private rental cars have blocked a major tunnel in the Belgian capital following the ruling by the Brussels Court of Appeal earlier this week.
In a statement about the upcoming shutdown, the company criticized the Belgian government for failing to implement the reforms it was promoting, saying: “This decision was made in accordance with the old regulations that were pre-drafted for smartphones over the past seven years.
Uber stressed that the appeals court's decision affects only drivers with a driver's license in Brussels.
The company added that it was seriously concerned about the loss of the ability of 2,000 licensees of low-cost cars (also known as rental cars with a driver's licence) to use the company's platform.
According to the monetization statement, Uber does not directly employ drivers in Belgium but classifies them as independent contractors. So it can't claim that it lost 2,000 jobs because it didn't provide the LVC driver in question with an employment contract at all.
The company is urging the government to move quickly to reform its taxi and LVC departments so drivers can continue working to support their families.
Uber is not allowed to operate
In March of this year, the local government in Brussels banned Uber drivers from picking up passengers using smartphones and geolocation.
Since then, Uber drivers in the city have been operating in a legal gray area. You can continue to use his app to drive and can be punished.
However, the company indicated that drivers received conflicting information. They claim that authorities sometimes secretly tell drivers that they can continue to drive.
Concerns about fixed-term employment have been a hot topic across Europe for many years. This has led to dozens of legal challenges.
The European Supreme Court ruled in 2017 that Uber is a transportation service. Therefore, you cannot avoid the local regulations for taxis.
And in the United Kingdom. After losing a number of employment cases in the nation's Supreme Court, she was forced to admit that the driver was a worker.