Uber drivers face having their cars seized in Brussels

Uber App iPhone

Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images

Uber maybe one of the fastest growing tech companies in the world but it is also running into a raft of legal issues across a variety of regions. 

Today, Uber drivers are “at risk of having their cars confiscated” in Brussels after the city’s police tribunal determined that the ride sharing app is a taxi service and therefore is obligated to abide by the same rules as cabbies, according to a Bloomberg report.

Uber argues that it is a technology platform that bridges people looking for a ride and those offering one, rather than a transport company.

However, as the Bloomberg report pointed out, the Brussels court ruled that Uber’s drivers offer a form of taxi service, because the customer is charged a fee which is paid through its app.

“Today Uber drivers risk having their cars seized if they continue to take passengers,” said Jacques Verhaegen, a lawyer for an Uber driver who had their vehicle was seized last year, to Bloomberg. 

Uber released a press statement saying that it is “taking this latest decision seriously” and it “will stand by” the driver, “supporting him until the end of the legal proceeding and beyond.”

Uber has run into trouble with authorities across the globe over the last year.

At the beginning of this month, Uber’s offices in China were raided by the police, following a crackdown by authorities on ridesharing apps.

Elsewhere, Uber’s offices in Paris and and Amsterdam have both been raided by police this year. It was also banned in Portugal late last month, and has also recently been banned in Germany — again. India is also cracking down on the company following an alleged rape by a driver.

NOW WATCH: Here’s how Floyd Mayweather spends his millions

The post Uber drivers face having their cars seized in Brussels appeared first on Business Insider.