The Cologne District Court has ruled that Uber must cease operations of its ride-sharing service Uber X, claiming it violates the German Passenger Transport Act. According to the court’s findings, Uber’s app enables customers to bypass required booking protocols, posing potential fines of up to €250,000 or six months of imprisonment for violations. Although Uber maintains the legality of its services, the court’s decision indicates a clear mandate against the current app usage method.
The ruling, made public on October 29, 2025, asserts that Uber’s processes violate regulations stipulating that ride requests must be handled through a rental company’s central office rather than directly from customers to drivers. A legal representative for the Cologne taxi association, Taxi-Ruf Köln, emphasized that the violation stems from Uber’s methodology circumventing these statutory requirements.
To support their case, Taxi-Ruf Köln gathered evidence by using an Uber driver’s mobile device to demonstrate that bookings were indeed being sent directly to drivers, thereby undermining the law which mandates that only central offices may accept ride requests. The judges echoed these findings, stating that the Uber X application’s functionality was designed to breach the Passenger Transport Act’s regulations.
In response to the court’s determination, Uber has expressed its intention to evaluate the ruling and potentially appeal the decision. While Uber customers can continue using the app for the time being, the taxi association plans to monitor compliance with the court order and could initiate legal action for any infractions, aiming to enforce penalties for the application’s unauthorized use.