Cab battle hits Uber-drive

Uber has been banned in New Delhi, India's capital. Photo / AP

Taxi booking tool hits back at regulation by hiring lobbyists to shape public opinion.

The taxi booking app Uber is beefing up its lobbying efforts in the UK and across Europe as it seeks to shape legislation in its favour and improve its public image.

Uber is looking to hire a lobbyist with "at least 10 to 12 years of government relations experience" to cover the UK, Ireland and the Nordics - just three months after it appointed a veteran lobbyist to cover Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The US company's founder, Travis Kalanick, advocates what he calls "principled confrontation", arguing that the systems and laws Uber comes up against are anachronistic.

In the United States, this approach has proved surprisingly successful, in no small part due to the large number of lobbyists it employs, including David Plouffe, US President Barack Obama's former campaign manager. An investigation by the Washington Post revealed that Uber employs at least 161 lobbyists across America.

Uber has been hit with bans in France, Germany, Spain and Thailand this year and the company has also been accused of breaking UK law, a claim it denies.

In September, Uber, which is backed by Google and Goldman Sachs, appointed Mark McGann as its head of public policy for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Before joining the company, McGann, who speaks French and Italian, held senior positions at lobbying and public relations firms Weber Shandwick, Brunswick and Fipra.

Two employees at Uber's London office, both of whom appear to have joined the company in May this year, are listed on the UK Public Affairs Council's register of lobbyists, and Uber is currently recruiting a director of public policy to cover the UK, Ireland and the Nordics.

Asked why a taxi company requires such a role, a spokesperson for Uber's London office said: "As a key part of the transportation infrastructure in cities like London, Uber takes its responsibilities seriously.

"Much of the legislation was written prior to the advent of modern technology, and Uber and other sharing economy services can only flourish if rules and regulations take innovation into account."

France vows end to taxi app service

France promised to ban the smartphone taxi service Uber yesterday after Parisian taxi drivers brought chaos to the capital with "go slow" protests.

The drivers - already angered by the French Government's approval of pre-booked hire car services, known as VTCs, to challenge their monopoly - were demonstrating against UberPOP, a smartphone application that enables non-professional drivers using their own cars to take on passengers at cut-price rates. The app has 160,000 users in France.

Parisian cabbies joined forces with VTC firms to challenge UberPOP's legality, saying it was unfair competition. Last week, a commercial court ruled it was unable to impose an instant ban on the service because details of new legislation restricting its use had not been published.

Faced with the go-slow, the French Government said that a ban on UberPOP would be enforced in the New Year.

- Telegraph Group Ltd