Seoul is banning Uber in favor of its own app

The Seoul city government said Monday it would seek a ban on a car-hailing smartphone app from Uber Technologies Inc., joining a global battle by municipalities and traditional taxi services against the service. The local authority said in a statement that Uber is illegal under South Korean law, which forbids fee-paying transport services using private or rented motor vehicles unregistered with the authorities. The city added that it will launch in December an app that will provide similar features to Uber for official taxis, such as geo-location data on cabs nearby, information about them and their drivers, as well as ratings. A Seoul-based Uber spokesman said the company was preparing a response to Seoul’s move, which follows a string of other actions taken by the city against the service in recent months. In April, Seoul issued a fine of 1 million won ($974) to a driver after he or she solicited customers through Uber while driving a rented car. A month later, the city government asked the police to investigate the San Francisco-based startup but the probe was suspended due to a lack of evidence. The city will ask police to resume the suspended inquiry, its statement said. Seoul’s move comes as similar efforts are pursued by state agencies and city governments worldwide that say Uber and similar apps skirt regulations. The five-year-old company faces a slew of lawsuits across the U.S. and its app is banned in some European cities. Thousands of conventional taxi drivers around Europe last month protested the service. Uber’s general manager for Europe welcomed the protests as a chance to increase publicity and offered promotions to counter taxi strikes. Taipei’s taxi drivers also stopped traffic earlier this month in protest of Uber.