Turkey has officially lifted an access ban on the mobile app of global ridesharing company Uber after an appeals court last month overturned a local court’s decision, according to a statement from the company on Wednesday.
“The access ban on Uber Turkey has been officially removed today in line with the court decision. Hello to İstanbul residents again,” Uber Turkey tweeted.
An appeals court in İstanbul in December overturned a local court’s decision which in 2019 ruled for the banning of Uber’s online app for engaging in “unfair competition” after a lawsuit was filed by an İstanbul taxi drivers association.
The court order prohibited access to Uber’s website and smartphone applications.
Uber Turkey said in a statement last month that Uber’s service would continue with the yellow taxis of İstanbul through the UberTaxi application.
“We believe [in] and are committed to Turkey,” the Uber Global spokesperson said separately.
There are around 17,400 official yellow taxis operating in Turkey’s most populous city of İstanbul.
Uber is used by 19 million people daily in more than 700 cities in 66 countries and has been operating since 2010.