By depositing € 400.000 security Taxi Deutschland today created the conditions for executing the judgment of the Frankfurt Court and enforcing the UberPOP ban in the entire country. Each infringement of the ban, each trip ordered via the Uber-app will carry an immediate fine of € 250.000 for each violation of the ban. All trips transmitted by Uber to any UberPOP-driver come under this ban.

“If Uber sought its way into legality, according to media reports, we would be pleased by that,” said Dieter Schlenker, chairman of the cooperative Taxi Deutschland. “As long as UberPOP continues to offer its service, against the court ruling, that statement is just paying lip-service. Uber hasn’t produced a legal business model in Germany.”

Taxi Deutschland states that a having the right papers for driving a taxi does not in itself guarantee safe transportation of passengers in the sense of the prevailing laws protecting consumers. In Germany tests for drivers, operators and vehicles are very intensive. “Whether Uber drivers will ever become legal transportation professionals, is the question”, says Schenker, who, in his statement, paints a clear picture of the intensive legal demands made on the taxi operator in Germany. “These very sensible rules are the reason why consumers are confident that taxi trips are safe. They can trust the taxi to transport their teenage daughter safely, when they can’t pick her up themselves.”

According to Taxi Deutschland, Uber’s legal problems are a worldwide phenomenon: everywhere in the world the legal transportatation sector is regulated in a similar way as in Germany. In many countries courts and authorities are acting against Uber, since the company ignores the laws that govern transportation of people.

Taxi Deutschland is a cooperative and operates as a service company for taxi companies in Germany. It operates the app Taxi Deutschland which can already be used in 2.600 towns and cities in Germany and operates the mobile number 22456 which connects callers to local taxi companies.

• Dieter Schlenker would welcome a fully legal UberPOP-service.