Italy Just Banned Uber, New Nail Meets Battered Coffin

It seems Uber just can’t catch a break. On top of a litany of sexual harassment accusations, loss of key personnel, a legal battle with Google, and an infantile self-driving technology, it now has to contend with being banned from operating in Italy. The main driving force behind the ban appears to be the group of taxi companies in the country that banded together to fight the invading American firm.

Uber faced similar problems in the US where American taxi companies lobbied to stop the spread of the cab-hailing firm when it was just a startup. Unfortunately for them, they simply did not succeed. In Italy, the cab companies got a much better outcome when a court banned Uber from having a presence in the country, Reuters reports.

Citing unfair competition, the court ruled that Uber could not put any of its vehicles on the road, could not offer Italians its phone apps, and could not commission advertising in the country. This decision was made in favor of the coalition of traditional taxi companies, which reportedly shocked the cab-hailing firm’s arm in Italy. In response, the company will be filing an appeal to overturn the court decision.

This is only adding to the growing pile of problems that Uber has to deal with since Waymo is going after the company at home while shedding key personnel in the process. If its legal battle against Alphabet’s self-driving division goes sideways, the cab-hailing firm’s dream of having fleets of autonomous vehicles is at risk.

With the Italian court decision in play, Uber currently has 10 days to comply with its orders or pay fines, Tech Crunch reports. This includes removing all cabs, advertising, and apps from the region. If it does not comply, the company will be paying €10,000 for every day that it defies the order.