The Uber controversy

For a company well-known pretty much everywhere in the world, Uber sure has its fair share of controversy. Recently, the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) has declared that the service is illegal, after it failed to obtain necessary permissions from the concerned authorities. This comes less than a week after its launch.

The American transportation network isn't legally a taxi service. Rather, they work by being a cross-over between a chauffeur service and a tech company. For this and several other reasons, Uber has to tackle national and state laws differently, and has to pass certain speed-bumps along the way. Pun intended.

Here is a map of all the places Uber is facing trouble operating. Source: Washington Post.

In USA alone, Uber is banned in a number of places. These include specific parts in Alaska, Alabama, Florida, New York, Texas, as well as the entire state of Nevada. The reasons for this vary from non-negotiable regulations to failure to ensure customer safety.

Heading north to Canada, the service is banned in Edmonton in the province of Alberta. Vancouver also doesn't allow Uber operations, and even in Toronto, the company is facing strong opposition from taxi unions.

Crossing the Atlantic, Uber is also facing a tough time in Europe. Romania, Spain and Switzerland have banned the service, and many other European countries are also proving difficult. It's very controversial in France, Finland, Denmark and Norway, and in countries like Italy and Poland, Uber is set to come under serious pressure from authorities. Cab drivers in the UK don't like Uber much either. But Uber is smart. By making use of loopholes in the law, it's been able to remain operational in places like Germany and the Netherlands.

Further east, in Asia, Uber has been banned in South Korea. Taiwan tried stopping the usage of Uber by imposing heavy taxes, while only ride-sharing services are open in Thailand. Recently, Uber's services were sold to rivals Didi Chuxing in China. It's in India where things get really weird though. There, Uber has been swamped with sexual assault allegations. Yikes.

It's worth noting that Uber faces a lot of trouble operating in other continents too. For example, in Brazil in South America, as well as in several territories and states in Australia. In the state of Queensland, the service is banned entirely.

Uber, a USD 68 billion company, is one of the best things to come out of Silicon Valley in recent times. And we hope it will fix these issues to the best of its capability and provide amazing transportation for all, especially in our country.