Firstly, Uber does not have the relevant permission to transport passengers in Germany. The Amsterdam-based company Uber BV, which offers rides in some cities through its app, claims to be only an intermediary and technical service provider.

But in fact Uber determines the fare and also collects the fare. The fact that Uber farms these journeys out to subcontractors that are not even mentioned by (company) name does not change the fact that Uber itself is the actual transport company. As Uber does not have permission to carry passengers in Germany, Uber permanently violates the German Passenger Transport Act, concludes the large taxi group.

Secondly, the Uber app system encourages violations by subcontractors and drivers. The Uber app technology does not prevent the driver from receiving trip orders directly from Uber. In some cases, the subcontractors in this set-up do not even have the technical options for order acceptance and transmission to the vehicle. However, the Passenger Transport Act requires that journeys must be received at the company seat or in the private apartment of the PHV-company. This is to prevent private hire vehicles from clogging city centres whilst waiting for or soliciting new orders.

Taxi Deutschland’s third gripe is that Uber sends trip orders to PHV entrepreneurs who ignore the legal obligation for PHV to return to their company after each trip. From all cities where Uber is a ‘trip-mediator’, there is sufficient evidence that Uber’s subcontractors do not meet the legal obligation to return to the PHV-company. Uber keeps sending these entrepreneurs trips.

The Uber system knows the current location of each vehicle very accurately via the app’s GPS function and can therefore also check whether the vehicle returns to the company after the “ride contract” has been performed. Even if the drivers do not comply with the obligation to return, Uber continues to arrange trip orders for these drivers. Uber thus supports the violation by its subcontractors of the obligation to return to base.

“Taxi Deutschland eG – in the interest of the affiliated taxi companies – does not want to accept these permanent and systematic violations of the German Passenger Transport Act by Uber BV. Uber BV is legally obliged to meet the legal requirements.” it says.  Taxi Deutschland expects a ruling later this year.

• Classic: as usual, Uber BV, which offers trips in German cities through its app, claims to be only an intermediary and technical service provider.