UberX service suspended in Greece after new legal framework

Uber has announced that the UberX service that it provided in Athens since 2015 will be suspended as of next Tuesday, 10 April.

The company’s cars have transported 450,000 people in Greece since the service was launched here.

Uber drivers in Greece have staged large protest at the transportation ministry (photo above), and have at times had angry clashes with taxi drivers, who believe the company enjoys unfair advantages that undermine free market competition.

The company provides the services of private drivers, not taxis, who are hired by car rental companies that work with Uber, transporting passengers through the UberX system.

The company said in a letter sent to Greek clients that the new legal framework recently passed by the Greek parliament includes provisions that affect ridesharing services, and said that the company will evaluate “if and how it will be able to operate with the new framework”.

The company said service will be suspended “until a suitable solution is found”.

“We hope to cooperate with all competent authorities in the country, so as to give Greeks the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of contemporary technologies such as Uber.

Uber management indicated that the company has decided to contribute to Greece and to continue to provide UberTAXI service in Athens.

The company said that in the coming days will do whatever it can to support its collaborators and drivers who have worked with it over the last years.

Uber’s strategy in Greece was to first establish service in Athens, which was included in its destinations network in 2014, serving mainly tourists and tourism companies.

About 80 percent of tourists, especially Americans, who are Uber clients elsewhere, also use the service in Greece.