NOK 5 million fine handed out to Uber

UberOSLO.illustration picture of taxi app Uber. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB scanpix

Uber has received a fine of NOK 5 million divided between two companies for violations of the Occupational Transport Act.

 

According to Oslo Police District, the transport network company have transported passengers without the necessary permits.

The Norwegi an company Uber Norway and the international Uber BV have therefore received fines of NOK 2.5 million each, confirmed Uber to Dagbladet newspaper.

‘We are disappointed, but not surprised. The case emphasises the need to modernise Norwegian regulations. Nobody is served by such a sketchy regulatory framework,’ said Uber’s chief executive officer in Norway, Carl Edvard Endresen.

He said that they won’t accept the penalties, so the case will br decided in court. Dagbladet hadn’t succeeded in getting a comment from Oslo Police District by Wednesday evening.

The investigation was triggered by a notification from the Norwegian Taxi Association in December last year.

In June, Uber sent a letter to the Minister of Transport, Ketil Solvik-Olsen of Fremskrittspartiet (Frp), with several suggestions for changes in the company.

Uber hopes it will be considered a legal enterprise in the revised taxi regulation. Not least because of pressure from the EFTA Surveillance Authority, ESA, which requires Norway to change the passenger loyalty system. ESA feels that today’s system prevents free competition.

‘At worst, the consequence of the process may be that Uber has to assess its presence in Norway,’ said Endresen at a press conference in June.

 

 

 

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today