Egypt’s administrative court banned on Tuesday taxi-hailing services Uber and Careem from operating in the country. The decision can still be appealed Egypt’s High Administrative Court.
The lawsuit alleges that Uber and Careem taking money from passengers in violation of the terms of license for the used cars.
The case against the two companies was filed by a group of traditional taxi drivers in February 2017 who accused the services of breaking the traffic law by using privately-owned vehicles for commercial use.
The court also decided the cessation of transportation companies’ applications.
In 2014، figures released by the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) said that public transportation users in Egypt stand at 5.2 million passengers a day.
Egypt, with 92 million people and low rates of car ownership, is a huge target target for both companies. Cairo has become Uber’s third-largest city by number of rides, after London and Paris, in the region that spans Europe and the Middle East.
UBER and Careem issues statements in response to the court’s decision
In response to the court’s decision, both hailing-service giants published an official response on Facebook to keep local clients updated and ensure that will keep the service up and running.
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