American smartphone taxi service Uber is “not giving up” on Portugal – despite the purported legal bid by the nation’s taxidriver association Antral.
Vowing it will “continue to operate in Lisbon and Porto”, the alternative service claims it has not received any official notification to halt operations and only read about Antral’s injunction on the association’s website.
It has nonetheless taken legal action to ensure its services in Portugal, and expects a “final decision” in the next few weeks.
In a statement made on Tuesday, Uber’s Portugal representative Rui Monteiro explained: “it is important to clarify” that Uber’s operations have not been affected in any way at all.
The App that connects passengers to drivers with vehicles for hire will continue operating while Uber attempts to clear everything up in court, he added.
It is news that will infuriate Antral which had hailed the so-called court ban, understood to have been issued in Lisbon, as “a huge victory”.
Antral claimed at the time that Uber faced a €10,000 daily fine if it did not comply with the ban.
It remains to be seen where this story goes next.
Antral has been campaigning against the smartphone service as the association complains it undercuts regular taxis and is not subject to the same rules and regulations.
Nonetheless, the service is very popular – with an online ‘We want Uber in Portugal’ petition already raising over 10,000 signatures.
