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Uber unhappy cabbies

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Cabbies around the world go on strike to protest ride-hiring app

Over the last two weeks, taxi drivers around the world have gone on strike over Uber.

They say the app is driving them out of business and that passenger safety is compromised.

Uber lets customers use apps to summon and pay for rides provided by drivers using their own cars.

It has expanded to hundreds of cities around the world, offering new options for both riders and drivers, but it has also run into complaints from taxi drivers, the taxi industry and regulators, AFP reported.

Uber has faced protests in London, Brussels, Paris, New York and Kuala Lumpur, among other cities.

On Wednesday, the Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in Montreal, Canada, was blockaded by some 800 protesting taxi and limousine drivers.

The taxi drivers said the government has not done enough to clamp down on Uber drivers, whom they claimed have been undercutting fares and operating outside the law, reported The Toronto Sun.

CONTRACT

A spokesman for the taxi drivers, Mr Benoit Jugand, said Uber is allowed to operate at the airport even though the taxi industry has a million-dollar contract with the agency that runs the facility.

Central London also came to a standstill on Wednesday as about 8,000 cab drivers took part in a protest at the lack of regulations imposed on Uber.

Thousands of drivers took their vehicles to a standstill around Parliament Square and Whitehall, near the Houses of Parliament.

The cab drivers have been incensed by the actions of Transport for London in licensing Uber, blurring the lines between traditional taxis and private hire, AFP reported.

Meanwhile, Uber has agreed to pay US$28.5 million (S$40m) to settle litigation brought by customers who alleged the ride-hailing service misrepresented the quality of its safety practices and its charges, the company said yesterday, reported Reuters.

The two proposed lawsuits were filed in a Northern California court.

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