France plans to defend its traditional taxi drivers from the threat posed by Uber by creating a national “electronic availability register” for them that mimicks the car-sharing app’s geolocation software.
The plan was outlined in a draft decree registered with the European Commission earlier this month.
The decree would put flesh on the bones of a law that restricts UberPOP and other car sharing schemes. The law was put in place in October last year, and bans private car owners from “electronic cruising” – using the geolocation software that allows drivers and would-be passengers to find each other.
“The purpose of implementing the taxi availability register is to modernize the taxi driver profession and optimize the monopoly over cruising, extended to electronic cruising, in order to improve the meeting of supply and demand for taxis,” the draft decree said.
France is one of several countries where U.S.-based Uber and car sharing apps like it face hostility from traditional cab drivers, and where governments are grappling with legislation for a new era.