Sweden, Mississauga governments regress with Uber bans, regulations

The taxi monopoly has won. Politicians who hate free markets, free choice and advanced technology have won. Everyone else has lost.

This week, a handful of jurisdictions have imposed bans on Uber or instituted legislation that would make it difficult for ride-sharing businesses to operate. Sweden, Mississauga and Austin are just some of the culprits in this war on Uber and any other business that doesn’t toe the government line.

The maniacal central planners showed off their political prowess and regulatory might by enforcing bans or prompting the likes of Uber and Lyft to shut down in cities worldwide.

Amid immense local taxi regulation, Uber closed UberPOP, a ride-sharing carpool service, in Sweden. The company noted that the brand new service faced heavy opposition, and explained that Sweden “needs a modern and clearer regulatory framework for the emerging sharing economy.” UberX and UberLux will remain open for business.

Mississauga, a city within the Greater Toronto Area, also flexed its government might by banning Uber. The city council voted 10-2 to shut down ride-sharing services unless they obtain a taxi brokerage licence and run their business like a traditional cab company. Mayor Bonnie Crombie warned of a government solution to ride-sharing by announcing a year-long pilot project that could incorporate ride-sharing into its regulatory framework.

“We cannot bury our heads in the sand. The reality is (ride-sharing) is here and technology is changing daily,” Crombie said. “We need to develop a ‘made in Mississauga’ solution that will allow us to shape how (ride-sharing) companies operate in our city, legally.”

Uber and Lyft agreed to “pause” their operations in Austin, Texas as part of a protest against municipal regulations that their drivers must submit to fingerprint background checks.

Uber is now facing hiccups and obstacles in several jurisdictions in California and New York.

Don Boudreaux of Cafe Hayek wrote eloquently on Uber’s “creative destruction”:

“Uber is a shining example of creative destruction – in particular, in this case destroying not only an older, established way of serving consumers but, more importantly, destroying the government-granted monopoly privileges that that older, established way enjoyed.”