Uber to Suspend ‘uberX’ Service in Athens

Uber, a peer-to-peer ridesharing and transportation network company, on Thursday announced that it was suspending its “uberX” service in Athens as of Tuesday, April 10, due to the passing of a new law that effects ridesharing services.

“We need to assess whether and how we can work in accordance with this new framework,” Uber Greece said in an announcement, adding that the uberX service will be suspended until the “appropriate solutions” are found.

Uber operates two services in Athens: uberX, which offers services of privately licensed drivers and UberTAXI, which employs licensed taxi drivers.

“We are not leaving Greece… We will continue to provide the uberTAXI service in Athens,” Uber Greece said.

The bill regulating taxi services providers (Beat and Uber) was passed in parliament on March 22 and includes a stricter framework of operations for the companies.

Among other things, the bill tightened Greece’s taxi market as it now requires e-platforms and apps offering taxi services (via phone or online) to operate as transport companies.

“We look forward to working with all relevant stakeholders in the country to find a way for passengers to enjoy the benefits of modern technologies like Uber,” the company underlined..

Uber currently operates in 65 countries and in more than 600 cities around the world. In Greece it has been offering services since 2015. Some 126,000 Greeks have subscribed to its platform for the use of transport services.