Casablanca's Taxi Drivers Assault Uber Drivers and Users
By Morocco World News -
July 26, 2016 , 8:56 am
Uber Morocco Defends Its Right to Operate in Casablanca
By Alexandra Krauska
Rabat - Since the beginning Uber service in Casablanca last year, drivers of green taxis have begun to intimidate Uber drivers to reduce competition. There have been 40 incidents of intimidation or aggression since the middle of Ramadan, Mrirem Belkziz, director general of Uber Morocco was quoted by Telquel as saying.
In one incident three petit taxis surrounded an Uber driver's car. The driver told the passengers to get out and run, possibly because the driver may have been afraid for their safety, according to the same source.
Green taxis pay a fee to use the radio system that connects them to passengers. They may feel that Uber, the free mobile app, is unfair and creates too much competition. The director of the green taxis said that they do not support these incidents, but "understands that some of the drivers have certain practices to defend their livelihood."
Uber drivers suspect that the drivers of the green taxis know when they pick up passengers, or make fake bookings with Uber drivers. As a result, Uber drivers and users need to change their habits.
"Now I order [the Uber] a little later and I no longer wait," one regular Uber customer was quoted by Telquel as saying. The user had been heckled in the past for using Uber rather than a taxi.
Uber drivers now advise users to sit in the front seat of the Uber car in order to avoid suspicion.
Friction between taxi drivers and the American transportation company has been increasing in intensity since the company first began offering services in Casablanca last July. In December of 2015, hundreds of taxi drivers gathered outside the Moroccan Labor Union headquarters in Casablanca to protest Uber's presence in Morocco.
The transportation app company incorporated red taxis into their services earlier this month, in order to meet increasing demand.
By Morocco World News -
July 26, 2016 , 8:56 am
Uber Morocco Defends Its Right to Operate in Casablanca
By Alexandra Krauska
Rabat - Since the beginning Uber service in Casablanca last year, drivers of green taxis have begun to intimidate Uber drivers to reduce competition. There have been 40 incidents of intimidation or aggression since the middle of Ramadan, Mrirem Belkziz, director general of Uber Morocco was quoted by Telquel as saying.
In one incident three petit taxis surrounded an Uber driver's car. The driver told the passengers to get out and run, possibly because the driver may have been afraid for their safety, according to the same source.
Green taxis pay a fee to use the radio system that connects them to passengers. They may feel that Uber, the free mobile app, is unfair and creates too much competition. The director of the green taxis said that they do not support these incidents, but "understands that some of the drivers have certain practices to defend their livelihood."
Uber drivers suspect that the drivers of the green taxis know when they pick up passengers, or make fake bookings with Uber drivers. As a result, Uber drivers and users need to change their habits.
"Now I order [the Uber] a little later and I no longer wait," one regular Uber customer was quoted by Telquel as saying. The user had been heckled in the past for using Uber rather than a taxi.
Uber drivers now advise users to sit in the front seat of the Uber car in order to avoid suspicion.
Friction between taxi drivers and the American transportation company has been increasing in intensity since the company first began offering services in Casablanca last July. In December of 2015, hundreds of taxi drivers gathered outside the Moroccan Labor Union headquarters in Casablanca to protest Uber's presence in Morocco.
The transportation app company incorporated red taxis into their services earlier this month, in order to meet increasing demand.