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City
lawmakers decided 48-1 in favor of banning application-based
private car services such as Uber in a preliminary vote. The
bill requires a second vote and the signature of Mayor Fernando
Haddad in order to be enacted.
The mayor has not indicated whether he would sign the bill into
law.
"Uber defends the right of users to choose the way in which they
move about the city," the company said in a statement posted on
Facebook after the vote, adding that the service continues to
operate normally in Sao Paulo, a city of 11 million people.
The company said more than 200,000 emails had been sent to city
council members by users urging them to vote against a ban.
Sao Paulo's white taxis swarmed the street in front of the
municipal legislature on Tuesday and drivers filled the
chamber's galleries.
Uber has triggered protests by taxi drivers from London to New
Delhi as it upends traditional business models that require
professional drivers to pay often steep fees for licenses to
operate cabs.
In early May a Brazilian judge struck down an injunction calling
for Uber's suspension throughout the country.
(Reporting by Asher Levine; Editing by Mary Milliken and W
Simon)
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