SERVICE IS PURELY COMMERCIAL, SAYS ZELAYA Tuesday, October 25, 2016 City magistrate rules Uber is legalCity magistrate Luis Zelaya yesterday knocked back the taxi-driver union’s lawsuit against the multinational Uber, ruling that the system linking private drivers with potential passengers via apps was purely commercial with no crime or illegality involved. The union had taken 33 Uber drivers to court but Zelaya ruled that they were not guilty of unfair competition, contributing to traffic congestion or any other offence. The magistrate did not rule out administrative misdemeanours or traffic infractions but “no crime.” Nor had the regularity and efficiency of public transport been affected in any way. Prosecutor Jorge Ballestrero had already defined Uber as “a licit commercial activity with legitimate aims.”But the taxi-drivers have not been the only ones to object to their transport rivals since their début in this city last April, staging numerous road-blocks and placing “Fuera Uber” stickers in their rear windscreens. City Hall has repeatedly described Uber as “beyond the law, which it must obey.”Herald staff

Source: Bueno Aires Herald October 25, 2016 01:41 UTC