By Laurie Segall
LONDON (CNNMoney) — Uber has just scored a rare victory in one of its largest European markets.
London’s High Court ruled Friday that Uber’s app is not a taximeter, and that the service has been operating legally since it launched in the city in 2012.
The use of meters to calculate fares is reserved for London’s black cab drivers, who have been outspoken against Uber’s presence. Their representatives had asked the court to ban the app.
But High Court judge Justice Ouseley said that a driver’s smartphone along with the app was not the same as a fare-calculating device.
"A taximeter…does not include a device that receives GPS signals in the course of a journey, and forwards GPS data to a server located outside of the vehicle," he concluded.
Uber’s expansion in the United Kingdom has been particularly sensitive.
London’s "cabbies" undergo stringent training before they’re licensed. The growth of Uber’s ride-hailing platform has created a new class of drivers who haven’t undergone the same training and aren’t subject to the same regulations.
Despite the court ruling, Uber is still facing speed bumps across Europe.
London transport authorities are considering enforcing a mandatory five-minute wait for passengers seeking to use the app. They’re also considering barring the company from displaying driver availability on a map in its smartphone app.
In Paris, Uber was forced to suspend its uberPOP service following violent attacks and ongoing protests against the drivers.
In Amsterdam, the Dutch justice department is investigating whether Uber is breaking transport rules.
Despite its ongoing legal battles, Uber has seen a meteoric rise since it launched five years ago. According to founder Travis Kalanick, the service is in more than 300 cities around the world and sees an average of 1,000 rides per minute.
The company is now worth about $50 billion.
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