US taxi-hailing app firm Uber Technologies Inc reappeared in Spain on Thursday as a home food delivery network after a court banned it from operating its taxi service following complaints from professional drivers.
It was the first launch outside the US of Uber’s food delivery application.
For the moment the Spanish version of the app is only available in the northeastern city of Barcelona.
The company said the app will connect customers with restaurants already licensed to make home deliveries.
Some of the delivery staff will be drivers who offered rides via the taxi app before it was banned.
The company said it will make sure drivers pay their taxes on their earnings to see off criticism from those who accuse the company of fueling the black market.
“We hope the company’s image will continue to be what it should be, that of an innovative company that helps the user,” the head of Uber in Spain, Carles Lloret, told reporters.
The Uber launch in Spain in April last year sparked angry protests by Spanish taxi drivers. A judge in December last year banned the firm from operating in Spain while the court examines a lawsuit by taxi drivers, who say drivers offering rides via Uber are not qualified.
On Wednesday, Uber said that it expanded its latest funding round to pick another billion dollars from investors eager to put money into the controversial ride-sharing service.
The company’s Series E financing lid was raised to US$2.8 billion overall, not changing Uber’s dizzying valuation of around US$41 billion, but pumping up its coffers as it expands globally despite efforts by the traditional taxi industry to put up roadblocks.
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