PLANNED pilot schemes in Limerick by Uber to trial its private car ride sharing has been halted by The National Transport Authority (NTA).
Employing more than 400 people at its Thomas Street headquarters in the city, Uber, the mammoth lift-hiring app has been dealt the blow which effectively bans the use of private cars for passengers in Ireland.
The pilot scheme, where private individuals would use their cars to offer lifts to others for a fee, was described as “undesirable”.
The decision means that only registered taxis and limousines can remain providing the service.
A statement released to Uber stated that the practice was illegal.
“Notwithstanding the above legislative position, it should be stated that the NTA is unsupportive of this proposal.
“Operating parallel regulated and non regulated regimes, even on a pilot basis is undesirable in our view and can only serve to undermine the regulated transport system…the issue of unfair competition arises.
“This is not an approach which could be supported by the NTA.”
Ireland is not the only European country to refuse the tech firm permission to operate as Uber has been by France and Spain from rolling out their service which is widely used in the UK and the US.
The decision to refuse Uber permission to operate its ride-sharing app in Ireland has been welcomed by the representative taxi driver bodies.
