Spain Bans Uber Operations

A judge in Spain has ordered Uber Technologies Inc. to stop operating its smartphone-based UberPop ride-share service in the country because it lacks official authorization, BBC News reports.

The ruling was in response to a complaint filed by Madrid's taxi operators association. The judge said the independent drivers UberPop uses represent unfair competition to licensed and heavily regulated taxi services.

The San Francisco-based business faces similar bans in many other locations, most recently Toronto, Delhi and the Netherlands. The company's more expensive "UberBlack" service, which enables customers to hail taxis operated by professional services, has fared better.

Despite the barrage of legal challenges, the company has expanded its presence fourfold to 250 cities worldwide in the past year. Uber's most recent infusion of $1.2 billion (€968 million) in investment capital valued the 5-year-old company at $41 billion (€33 billion).