Top Uber bosses held in France as low-cost service probed
Two senior executives taken into custody, days after protests by taxi drivers turned violent
Two top Uber bosses were taken into custody in France on Monday as part of a probe into their ride-booking app which has sparked violent protests from regular taxi drivers, the company said.
An investigation was opened in 2014 into the UberPOP application which is used to put paying clients in contact with cheaper, non-professional drivers who do not face the same regulations as cabbies.
An Uber France spokesman confirmed its director general Thibaud Simphal and director for Western Europe Pierre-Dimitri Gore Coty were being interrogated by police.
Uber has faced rising anger in several countries, particularly in France where a taxi strike last week turned violent as drivers set fire to vehicles and blocked highways, creating a headache for thousands of tourists.
In March a raid on Uber's Paris offices as part of the investigation saw police seize mobile phones, computers and documents.
UberPOP has been illegal in France since January, but the law has proved difficult to enforce and it continues to operate.
On at least two occasions in Strasbourg in eastern France last week, taxi drivers posed as customers in order to lure Uber drivers to isolated spots where they were assaulted by cabbies and their vehicles damaged.
