2 Uber executives face trial in France over low-cost service
Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, general manager for western Europe of California-based Uber, left, and Thibaud Simphal, manager of Uber France, right arrive at the court house in Paris, France, on Sept. 30, 2015. AP
PARIS—Two Uber France executives are facing the possibility of prison in a trial hinging on the ride-hailing service’s outlawed low-cost service.
The trial Wednesday of Thibaud Simphal and Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty comes a week after France’s top constitutional authority upheld a 2014 law banning the low-cost UberPop service, which allowed any driver to act as a taxi. Uber’s standard app-based service remains legal in France.
Article continues after this advertisementThe two men face up to two years in prison and fines of 300,000 euros ($337,000).
Uber is under increasing pressure to work with skeptical European governments. It is banned entirely in Spain and Italy, but French lawmakers say they understand the demand for such services.
During protests in France this summer, taxi drivers infuriated by Uber competition smashed livery cars and set tires ablaze.
