Uber hit by heavy fines in Denmark

The Danish Supreme court has ruled that Uber drivers must pay fine on every ride. Uber drivers were charged with failing to have permits and for violating laws introduced to regulate Uber in Denmark.

One of the Uber drivers was fined 486,500 Danish crowns ($78,060) in the verdict. Uber entered in Denmark in 2014, since then the company was targeted by the local taxi driver unions, politicians and activists saying that Uber has started an unfair competition and not following the legal standards that are required for established taxi firms.

Uber issued a statement for their four charged drivers, “We are very disappointed for the drivers involved in all this and we are here to support them in difficult times. We are changing the way we do business and we comply with local laws across Europe, connecting with professionally licensed drivers.”

According to the case verdict, Police can issue a fine for each individual ride made by 1500 Uber drivers between 2014—2017. That amounts a huge fine on Uber, however, Copenhagen police official said it would evaluate the verdict given by the court and decide next week how to proceed.

The Danish parliament passed a law in February 2017 which imposed some requirements on taxis such as mandatory seat sensors, fare meters etc. Uber said the new law pushed the company to withdraw from Denmark last year.

The company said it would pay all the fines imposed on its drivers, according to Berlingske.