Uber Technologies Inc. has lost in Portugal’s appeal court to Antral, the taxi drivers union, in the latest in a bizarre series of hearings as this American company does not operate in Portugal.
While waiting for legislation to be processed through parliament to ensure Uber BV in the Netherlands, the company that runs the Portuguese operation, can establish and develop the app based transport service with the government’s blessing, Antral has been pursuing Uber Inc since 2015 even though its lawyers are after the wrong company.
Uber Portugal is not really interested in the latest court ruling, viewing it as little more than a curiosity. Uber Inc has little concern that it may not be allowed to operate in Portgal as its Dutch subsidiary handles that part of the worldwide business.
The American company hopes that "the new legislation proposed by the Government will be approved very soon by Parliament, as is desired by the great majority of the Portuguese."
Parliament has discussed the new laws to enable app based transport services to operate legally and should finish the thinking period in mid-June
Meantime, Uber’s service will continue to run in Lisbon, Oporto to the delight of its loyal fan base.
