Private car-hire services suffered a legal setback yesterday as the European Union’s top court backed the exclusive right of London’s iconic black cabs to share some traffic lanes with buses.
Judges at the EU Court of Justice in Luxembourg said rules favouring the black cabs are legal because of differences between the services, including black cabs’ ability to pick up passengers that hail them without a booking. The ruling will be a blow to the Addison Lee unit that brought the challenge and other black-cab rivals, such as Uber Technologies.
A unit of Addison Lee, which operates more than 4,800 cars in central London, filed the lawsuit in today’s case seeking the right of its drivers to also get access to the fast-track routes, which only buses and licensed black cabs can use.
Addison Lee and Uber declined to comment on today’s ruling. Transport for London, the city’s transport agency, didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
A London court sought the EU tribunal’s view on whether excluding private taxi companies from using the lanes is illegal state aid. The Addison Lee unit sued in London after some of their drivers were fined for using bus lanes, arguing the prohibition violated the freedom to provide services and was illegal state aid to black cabs.
The EU ruling will be reviewed by London judges before the U.K. court issues a final decision in the case.
Source: Bloomberg Brief
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