Operating in about 250 cities in 50 countries, San Francisco-based technology company, Uber has been engaged in a series of disputes with traditional taxi drivers and companies in Europe, the United States and India. As of mid-2015, protests were staged in England, Italy, Poland, China, Spain and Germany.

But while the court in the United Kingdom (UK) has ruled that the Uber app is legal and in fact doesn’t break the law, the inevitable is bound to happenlocal taxi drivers in parts of the U.K may slowly be forced out of work, while Uber car service disputes will hit emerging economies next. Already the company was faced with tough rivalry in Nairobi, Kenya at the beginning of the year.

The complaints against Uber have been on the grounds that the ride-sharing company provides unfair competition by using an app which allows passengers to set the price of a trip before they get in the car. Also, the fact that Uber drivers use an ‘e-hailing’ system through which users can see the nearest minicabs.  The Licensed Taxi Drivers Association, which represents drivers and the group that argued that Uber’s app was a taximeter, have stated their intention to appeal this latest verdict with the Supreme Court.

The court ruled that considering it is the vehicle which ought to be equipped with a device for calculating fares under Section 11 of the Private Hire Vehicle Act 1998, the law hardly prohibits the driver from using such a device if it isn’t part of the vehicle’s equipment. In many instances Uber drivers attach their smartphones to the windscreen.

According to Justice Duncan Ouseley, who gave a ruling on the taximeter,for the purposes of the 1998 Act, the taximeter “does not include a device that receives GPS signals in the course of a journey, and forwards GPS data to a server located outside of the vehicle…and sends the fare information back to the device.”

The judge further decreed that there are no rules which specify how a private-hire vehicle driver or operator is to calculate the fares, according to the law as they are not prohibited from using “the most obvious inputs,” which are “distance traveled” and “time taken”. Regardless of whether the driver is asked to provide a quote or estimate or not, there is no prohibition on the fare being calculated at the end of the journey.

What next?

In March, the technology company launched its low cost option, uberX as a safe, reliable and flexible alternative to urban transportation in Lagos. The uberX ride, which is typically a Toyota Camry, Kia Cerato, Hyundai Elantra or Honda Accord has a base fare of N500; N10 per minute and N110 per kilometer. About five months later, Uber Technologies Incorporation and KIA Motors Corporation entered a deal with Access Bank Plc to increase the number of car users in Africa’s biggest city.

But even though some of the allegations raised against Uber in other parts of the world are yet to be raised in emerging economies like Nigeria for instance, it is something to watch out for, hinged on the fact that there have been reports of fraudulent activities by some Uber drivers in Lagos. Also Uber is faced with a lot of competition, as there are many other companies that provide similar services in a number of African countries. Some are championed by Easy Taxi which is available in 30 countries to include Nigeria and South Africa’s Zapacab. Therefore the slightest hint of a brewing battle between local drivers and Uber concerning the future of travel on the continent will promote the advancement of other technology companies as the preferred choice.

In order to fight the concerns about driver selection, Uber operates a private security firm that conducts background safety inspections on all its drivers and calls references. With over 18,000 registered drivers in London, Uber said it wasn’t surprised by the ruling which deemed the app legal.

“This is great news for Londoners and a victory for common sense,” said Uber’s head of communications for the U.K., Harry Porter.

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