France is allowed to bring criminal proceedings against Uber for running an illegal taxi service, the European Union’s top court ruled on Tuesday.
The case centred on the ride-hailing app’s use of unlicensed drivers as part of its UberPOP service in France.
UberPOP has since been suspended in the country and several other cities.
READ: Uber snaps up bike-sharing firm Jump for reported US$100mln
The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled: “Member states may prohibit and punish, as a matter of criminal law, the illegal exercise of transport activities in the context of the UberPOP service, without notifying the Commission in advance of the draft legislation.”
Uber had said France should have asked for approval from the European Commission for a new taxi law that includes a measure that states only official taxis are allowed to use geolocation technology to show available cars.
Uber argued that criminal charges brought against two of the company’s French managers were not valid since France did not seek the Commission’s approval.
“This case is about whether a French law from 2014 should have been pre-notified to the European Commission and related to peer-to-peer services, which we stopped in 2015,” a spokeswoman for Uber said. “As our new CEO has said, it is appropriate to regulate services such as Uber and so we will continue the dialogue with cities across Europe.”