Uber to cease in Greece after new regulations given go ahead

The much maligned ride hailing firm Uber today announced that it is to suspend its licensed car service in Greece after new stricter local legislation was given the go-ahead.

Uber said in a blog “New local regulations were voted on recently with provisions that impact ride-sharing services,”

“We have to assess if and how we can operate within this new framework and so will be suspending uberX in Athens from next Tuesday until we can find an appropriate solution.” 

Uber currently offer a licensed service in Athens but like the the rest of the world has faced fierce criticism from local taxi drivers. 

In Greece Uber offers two different services like they did in London when they first launched. UberX and UberTAXI. One uses licensed private drivers and the other allows taxi drivers to feature on their app.

The UberTAXI feature in London was later scrapped as drivers failed to sign up.  In Athens new regulations means each ride has to start and end in the operators  designated office or parking area. This poses a problem to Uber as this doesn’t fit with their working business model.