Germany bans car sharing service

The car sharing service Uber has been hit with a temporary ban in Germanyafter a court in Frankfurt ruled that the mobile app violates the country's Passenger Transportation Act, The Guardian reports.

The ruling came into force on Tuesday following an expedited hearing. It means the ban remains in place until a full hearing takes place and Uber could face a €250,000 (£198,000) fine per ride.

Uber has vowed to keep the app online regardless of the ban. "You cannot put the brakes on progress," the company said in a statement. "Uber will continue its operations and will offer Uberpop ridesharing services via its app throughout Germany."

The company promised to appeal against the decision and would, if necessary, "exhaust all the legal possibilities".

The case against Uber was brought by the Taxi Deutschland Servicegesellschaft company, which offers a rival app that links users to registered taxi drivers. The company argued that Uber was not operating a legitimate service since its drivers did not have the correct permits, were not properly insured, and were not subject to any checks.

Read more on The Guardian website,