CAPE TOW: South Africa customs seized 33 Uber Technologies Inc. ride sharing vehicles over the weekend for not having proper permits to operate in South Africa’s Western Cape province.
We’ve had a long series of complaints about them,” City of Cape Town spokesman Jean-Pierre Smith said by phone today. “They’re public transport vehicles and they are required to have public transport operating permits.
Drivers of the impounded cars face fines of $128, Fin24 reported, citing Richard Bosman, the city’s manager for safety and security. Police started seizing the cars for not having valid permits on Jan. 3.Uber has been in talks with the City of Cape Town for months over what category of license or permit is appropriate for the service, according to Alon Lits, a general manager for Uber in Johannesburg.We remain committed to engaging with the city in resolving this issue,” Lits said by phone. “We have been in discussions at a national level about introducing a new sub- category of operating license which would cater for Uber’s technology.”
These are the first Uber cars to be impounded, compared with more than 4,000 taxis detained in the past 16 months, according to Smith.
