Uber Ban in Istanbul Triggered Pirate Cab Boom, Hurriyet Reports

(Bloomberg) -- Pirate cabs are proliferating in Istanbul, following a ban on Uber Technologies Inc.’s ride-hailing operations, Hurriyet newspaper reports.

More than 5,000 pirate cabs are operating in Turkey’s largest city, communicating with customers through WhatsApp, Hurriyet said Monday, citing a taxi association. With only 17,395 licensed cabs operating in the city of 15 million, demand for cheaper but illegal cabs is surging, the newspaper said.

In October, a court in Istanbul halted Uber’s operations on the ground they created unfair competition. The court also ruled to block access to Uber’s mobile application and website. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had opposed the company’s presence in Turkey, likening its vehicles to pirate cabs.

The inadequate supply of cab services has also resulted in a surge in medallion prices. A taxi license plate is sold for 2.1 million liras ($351,000), according to Kenan Ticaret, a privately held company that trades medallions, up 55% from the start of 2019.

“We’ve been too hard on Uber,” Hurriyet cited Yahya Ugur, the head of a cab association in Istanbul, as saying. “If cabs had increased their service quality, piracy wouldn’t have been so widespread. It’s been a bad experience.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Taylan Bilgic in Istanbul at tbilgic2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Onur Ant at oant@bloomberg.net, Amy Teibel, Constantine Courcoulas

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