Rome court lifts ban on Uber Black

(ANSA) - Rome, May 26 - A Rome court on Friday lifted its April 7 ban blocking the Uber Black service across Italy, upholding an appeal from the ride-hailing app and rejecting a plea from taxi drivers. Two other services, Uber Pop and Uber X, are still banned, under a March 22 ruling from a Turin court.
    The Rome court said its ruling was in line with the Italian parliament's recent decision to suspend up to December 31 several norms in legislation governing the taxi and chauffeur-driven car sector. That suspension sparked widespread protests and strikes by taxi drivers, some of which turned ugly.
    Uber reacted to the lifting of the Uber Black ban by saying "we are really happy we can announced to everyone and to our over thousand partner drivers that they will be able to continue to use our app in Italy". It said "now the need to update the dated norms still in force is stronger than ever, so as to let modern technology improve citizens' lives and mobility in cities".