Le Monde | • Updated | Interview by
After a hectic week began Thursday, June 25 by an enamelled taxi strike marked by violence and referral Corrections of the two bosses Uber for Europe and France, the US giant throws in the towel in France. In an interview with World , Simphal Thibaud, CEO of Uber France, announces the “suspension” of UberPop, this service that allows individuals to improvise taxi drivers with their cars every day. An about-face. Ignoring the many proclamations of illegality, the California company continued to deploy its service until justice bracket definitively. Uber, whose main activity is the transport car with driver (VTC), wants to blow the locks that hinder this emerging market
Read also:. With the Boers in hunting UberPop
Why continue to offer the service in France UberPop while all the country’s authorities ask you to stop this activity?
“Basically, we rely on the Constitutional Council decision expected in September on the article of the law Thévenoud”
We have decided to suspend UberPop in France , from 20 o’clock that Friday night [July 3]. First to preserve the safety of drivers Uber, which has always been our priority. They were victims of violence in recent days. The second reason is that we want to position ourselves in a spirit of appeasement, dialogue with the authorities and show that we take our responsibilities. On the substance, we defer to the Constitutional Council decision expected in September on the article of the law Thévenoud [which organizes the competition taxis] for UberPop.
Read also: The state goes to war against UberPop
This is the first time qu’Uber renounces the world to a service without being forced by the courts. Is this the sign of a shift in your strategy?
No, we have already removed the UberX service Portland [United States]. The main factor here is not coercion but violence.
The police action in recent days had she not already wiped out the activity of UberPop?
Not at all. Nearly 10,000 occasional drivers in France are on the UberPop platform, which 4000 were active last week. All this noise rather is advertising for the platform.
What will happen to UberPop drivers?
87% of drivers have UberPop another activity next . Their annual average income is 8,200 euros, which corresponds approximately to the annual costs of their vehicle. I want to thank them for their calm and their exemplary attitude despite the difficulties and violence. UberPop offered them a real opportunity to supplement their income, while the country is sorely lacking. We will help.
Was it responsible for encouraging there another week to join UberPop affirming them that it was legally safe?
It has always been responsible, unlike some actors who do not have clearly condemned the violence. Our priority now is to find a way to put these thousands of drivers on the road. It is vital for them and their families. Obstacle We will help them in the race to become VTC [transport vehicle with driver]. Because the facts show that the regulation is absolutely not.
The law does not Thévenoud it allows the development of the VTC market, differentiating it both taxis and illegal services such UberPop?
This is the opposite. This law marked a halt to the development of this new economic sector. Since 1 st January only 215 new cards VTC were granted in France while at the same time, 25,000 people contacted Uber to become VTC driver. Thousands have their complete file, are training and waiting in vain for their card. We will make proposals to the drivers and the government to get out of this situation. Over 400,000 passengers use UberPop because it brings a new service, reliable and safe. In the growing sector of urban mobility, where more and more people give up their car, there is a complementarity rather than competition between the different modes of transport.
Read also: What the” uberisation “Is the name?
I’m not about to leave Uber! It is probably the company that has grown the fastest in the history of mankind
What steps do you propose the government?
Simple adjustments that would bring, for example, the French system to that of London where there are 80 000 and 30 000 taxis VTC [in Paris, there are 17,700 taxis and it is estimated the number of VTC 10 000]. It would be enough to no longer require training in hours, but skills validated by an exam. Currently, the process to become VTC takes six months and requires 250 hours of training when we have the right to be light aircraft pilot in 20 hours! This training costs up to 6,000 euros. No one in the population we are talking about has such a sum. The law also imposes a financial capacity of 1 500 euros, while speaking of young suburbs, far from employment … Third degree VTC allow for less expensive cars, lighter, cleaner. For nearly two years we make these proposals. We also have proposals that taxis are more in line with their time
Read also:. Facing Uber, taxis feel their “survival is at stake”
After you behaved as a cowboy, how do you be credible to propose measures to taxis?
The cowboys, these are people who lynch people on the street. Fortunately companies to innovate! We believe that there should be maximum freedom for taxi drivers so they can choose the platform they want to work with. The law prohibits them to be as VTC. However, the offer is more open and allows competition between platforms, drivers will gain more. This happens like that in all the markets where we are, but not in France.
You risk a prison sentence. Have you considered leaving Uber?
I’m not about to leave Uber! It is probably the company that has grown the fastest in the history of mankind. There are still great things to do. This business is being debated everywhere, it comes from the success and power of an idea
Read also:. Uber France and two correctional officers tried in September
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