Uber is facing serious backlash in South Korea and France as authorities crack down on the ride-sharing taxi app.
South Korean police have charged thirty people associated with Uber, including the company’s local CEO, under suspicion of operating illegal taxi services.
Uber Korea’s head, a 32-year-old known only as Kang, was charged alongside a host of other company officials and drivers, Yonhap News reports.
The charge is that they are helping to connect passengers with nearby drivers using the app without an official license.
Uber’s CEO Travis Kalanick has also been booked on suspicion of conducting an illegal business.
“We plan to summon Kalanick soon and check the transaction details of overseas bank accounts to conduct further investigation into those involved in the case,” said a South Korea police official.
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Kalanick, however, is refusing to stand trial and Korea, and is remaining in the United States, his home country.
Related: What is Uber?
Earlier this week, meanwhile, French police raided Uber’s Paris office as part of an ongoing investigation into the company’s UberPop service.
The low-cost chauffeur service has been deemed illegal under French law, which dictates that taxi drivers must be licensed and insured. The authorities allege that Uber is not meeting that standard.
Uber, however, insists that all legal conditions have been met, and has filed various appeals with the European Commission. That’s the executive body of the European Union, which proposes laws, enforces decisions, upholds treaties, and manages general day-to-day business.
The UberPop service is still currently availably, although it’s reported (via TheVerge) that around 250 chauffeurs have been fined since the beginning of 2015.
Uber has described Monday’s raid as an ‘attempt at intimidation’, and maintains that all Uber France services comply with French law.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
