Two of the bosses of Uber in France have been taken into custody over an investigation into alleged "illicit activity" linked to the company’s low-budget UberPOP app, the Paris prosecutor’s office said, reports FRANCE 24.
The detentions came amid rising tensions between the government and the ride-hailing company, which culminated last week in a violence-marred taxi strike that blocked roads around the country.
Uber France confirmed that its general manager, Thibaud Simphal, and Western Europe director Pierre-Dimitri Gore Coty were questioned by Paris police.
An investigation was opened in 2014 into the UberPOP application (the equivalent of UberX in the United States), which is used to put paying clients in contact with private drivers who charge less than traditional taxi drivers.
Judicial sources told the AFP news agency that investigators are looking at whether the service constitutes an “illegal operation” as UberPOP drivers do not have to pay the same social charges as taxi drivers.
They are also probing whether Uber has violated data protection laws in the way it gathers and stores customers’ private information, said the sources.
The UberPOP app has been illegal in France since a new law regulating competition within the taxi industry was passed in October, with penalties up to two years in prison and fines up to 300,000 euros for non-registered drivers who pick up fares.