CAIRO — On Jan. 16, the Egyptian Administrative Court again postponed examination of a lawsuit filed by Egyptian taxi drivers demanding that the government suspend the Uber and Careem ride services. The court set a new hearing date of Feb. 27. The suit was filed a year ago, on Feb. 13, 2017.
The two transportation network companies (TNCs) offer transport by pairing riders with drivers via a mobile application. Uber and Careem launched in Egypt in 2014, and both have continued to operate through the delayed hearings — now at six — easing their way into Egyptians' daily routines. In 2017, Careem had 3 million registered users in the country, and Uber catered to 1.7 million people per month.
Taxi drivers filed a suit against the TNCs for unfair competition. The companies allow owners of private vehicles to operate as taxis, but the drivers skirt the requirements that taxi drivers must meet: fees for car inspections (which are more stringent for commercial vehicles), insurance (which is optional for personal-use vehicles), driver's license renewals (on a different schedule than for regular drivers) and business taxes.
This situation led taxi drivers to organize protests calling for the suspension of Uber and Careem. The first demonstration took place Feb. 2, 2016, in Mustafa Mahmoud Square, in Giza governorate. Protests soon spread to every governorate where Uber and Careem operate, including in Alexandria, Gharbia and Dakahlia.
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