Uber drivers surrounded and attacked by masked men in Amsterdam

Uber is facing further issues in Europe as uberPOP drivers in Amsterdam have been targeted by a group of armed, masked men.

The first incident happened Tuesday, March 10, when an uberPOP driver had his car surrounded by a group of masked men and was forced to stop before being restrained and attacked by the gang. Later that evening, a second uberPOP driver reported the same type of incident and a third attack followed. The third attack resulted in the arrest of two taxi drivers from a different company.

A spokesperson for Uber told TNW:

We confirm a small group of small taxi drivers used serious intimidation and aggression against uberPOP drivers in an attempt to stop innovation.

We believe these people are crossing a line and we are calling on government not to succumb to this taxi violence but to embrace innovation instead. Uber remains strongly committed to safe and affordable mobility options, including uberPOP.

This latest spate of attacks isn’t an isolated occurrence for Uber though. In February, there were also reports of several uberPOP drivers in The Hague being driven off the road by other taxi drivers.

UberPOP has faced scrutiny in The Netherlands in the past as the courts banned it in December, ruling it to be illegal for the car sharing service to take bookings via its app. Uber is currently appealing this ruling while still operating the service.

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➤ Brute force against Uberpop [De Telegraaf]