Uber executives avoid jail but rack up fines totalling €850,000 in France

A French court has convicted Uber and two of its executives of deceptive commercial practices and illegal business activity over its low-cost ride service.

The court fined the company €800,000 and fined regional Uber executive Pierre-Dimitry Gore-Coty €30,000, and Uber’s France general manager Thibaud Simphal €20,000. Half of all the fines were suspended.

The court did not hand down prison terms, and rejected a prosecutor’s request that the two executives be barred from running any company for five years.

Traditional taxi drivers had accused the low-cost UberPop service of unfair competition because it uses non-professional drivers.

UberPop is now banned in France but Uber still operates a service with professional drivers.

It is the latest legal tangle for the app-based business, which has faced protests from taxi unions and regulators around the world, reflecting larger tensions between long-regulated industries and the borderless, online economy.

During the trial, lawyers for Uber argued Simphal and Gore-Coty are not the legal representatives for Uber in France, have no such mandate from the shareholders and are only salaried managers.