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 The Philippines was the first country to regulate these types of
app-based services, to help make up for inadequate mass transport in
Manila, Southeast Asia's second most congested city after Jakarta,
according to research firm Numbeo.
The Philippine regional court blocked permission by the transport
department for Uber, and competitor GrabCar, to ply Manila's
streets, pending a hearing next week to decide a petition to ban
them in the capital.
"There is extreme urgency to issue a temporary restraining order to
the petitioner to prevent grave and irreparable injury and damages
because their claim that they suffer less or low incomes and
earnings is found to be persuasive," the court said.
In a statement, Uber said it was not a party to the court
proceedings and was weighing the impact of Friday's ruling.
"Uber is studying the implications of this decision," it said,
adding that it expected to get all the government permits needed.
In their petition to the court, a group of taxi operators and
drivers said Uber and GrabCar had been given special treatment to
operate without a franchise.
"The income of taxi drivers was slashed by up to 50 percent because
of the app-based transport, which does not follow tariffs imposed by
the government," said Jun Magno, leader of the group, the Stop and
Go Coalition.
About 660,000 taxis operate in Manila, the Asian Development Bank
estimated in 2010.
However, Friday's order does not affect operations in central Cebu,
the country's second largest city, where Uber has been allowed to
operate 10 vehicles to help meet public transport demand over the
Christmas holiday season.
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Founded in 2009, Uber is now in 60 countries around the world but
has faced more than 170 lawsuits in the United States alone, was
banned in France and is popular but illegal in Australia.
In China and India, Uber, backed by investment bank Goldman Sachs,
faces strong competition from homegrown companies, fueled by the
transport needs of large and growing populations.
To strengthen their challenge to Uber, ride-hailing firms, including
China's Didi Kuaidi, GrabTaxi in Southeast Asia, India's Ola and
U.S.-based Lyft have formed a global ridesharing partnership.
Didi, backed by Chinese tech giants Tencent Holdings and Alibaba
Group Holding, already has a stake in Lyft, GrabTaxi and Ola.
Japan's SoftBank Group is also an investor in each, except Lyft.
(Reporting by Manuel Mogato; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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