Dutch prosecutors raid Uber’s offices in Amsterdam

Prosecutors in the Netherlands raided Uber’s European headquarters in Amsterdam on Tuesday, saying it was part of an ongoing investigation into the company’s low-priced service UberPOP.

An Uber spokesman in Amsterdam confirmed Tuesday’s raid, declining to give further details.

Investigators are searching for evidence that Uber has broken Danish taxi laws.

Although agents from the Transport Inspectorate raided the company’s offices in March, Van der Moolen said this time prosecutors were involved, and they have seized administrative information.

“Uber uses the UberPOP app to book taxi rides with drivers who do not have a permit to operate as a taxi…it is illegal to offer a taxi service without a permit”, the statement said.

Prosecutors in April announced they had opened a criminal probe into Uber after Dutch judges in December banned UberPOP from taking bookings via its smartphone app.

Uber is suspected of “organised” violation of the law, according to ministry documents in the hands of broadcaster RTLZ. The company has suspended UberPop in France after a string of difficulties in the country, including clashes with taxi drivers, tensions with the government and arrests of top executives. French police also conducted a raid on Uber’s offices in Paris recently.