Bulgaria: Regulator opens investigation into Uber

Bulgaria’s Commission for Protection of Competition said on April 15 that it opened a formal investigation into the operations of taxi and car-sharing services firm Uber in the country’s capital city Sofia, on suspicion that the company was using unfair trade practices.

CPC’s decision to start the investigation was taken at the regulator’s meeting on April 8, but the notice was posted on its website on April 15. It targets two Dutch-registered companies – Uber BV, which offers customers the Uber mobile app, and Rasier Operations BV, which selects drivers for the UberX car-sharing service.

Uber launched the service in Sofia in December 2014, offering lower fares, which drew strong objections from taxi drivers and registered taxi companies. Founded in San Francisco in 2009, Uber has expanded across the globe, but has proven controversial with city authorities and existing taxi-cab companies, which argue that Uber’s competitive pricing advantage comes from not being subject to existing regulations on the industry.

Full Content: The Sofia Globe

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