Uber and the Law

Abstract

Uber is recognised as the most successful company of the Sharing Economy, providing transportation services with its application they were able to establish in more than 50 countries with a market valuation of more than 50 billion dollars. The reason of this success is an innovative business model, which has however encountered harsh reactions by taxi drivers and other transportation providers, that claim Uber is making an unfair competition by de facto running the same business without having a proper license, as well as bans to their activities by courts of law and interventions of various national regulators. This paper is aimed at answering the question that hides behind all this legal issues: “What is Uber, from a legal point of view?” We will consider four parameters: the Essential Operation Characteristics, Perception of the End-Users, International Classification and Applicable Legal Framework, in order to assess the state of art of the international legal framework de iure condito. In conclusion I will submit my proposal de iure condendo to consider, also outside the United States and in particular in Europe, the legal qualification introduced by the State of California of Transportation Network Company for Uber and all other similar innovative companies.

Keywords: Sharing Economy; Uber; Transportation Network Company;