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Uber halts service in Portland, Ore., while city updates rules

Uber promised to step up background checks of drivers after a charge in Boston that a woman was sexually assaulted.

By Frances Burns

PORTLAND, Ore., Dec. 19 (UPI) -- Uber, which launched its service in Portland, Ore., earlier this month without official permission, has agreed to suspend it while the city drafts new regulations.

The agreement was announced Thursday afternoon. Uber will continue to offer its "ride-sharing" service in surrounding suburbs and cities like Vancouver, Wash., and will drop off passengers in Portland.

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"We are pausing pickups within Portland city limits for three months, and the city has agreed to expedite regulations," Eva Behrend, an Uber spokeswoman, said in an emailed statement.

The office of Mayor Charlie Hales said a special task force will develop rules for Uber and similar services like Lyft that will allow drivers to use their own cars. The city said temporary regulations will be put in place if the task force has not completed its work in three months.

"The City is committed to developing a new regulatory framework that includes innovative transportation network companies," the statement said.

The agreement was reached after the city went to court seeking an injunction against Uber.

Uber, which launched in San Francisco in 2009 as a luxury car service and started Uber X in 2012, now offers its app in more than 50 countries. But the company has recently run into problems, including a driver charged with sexual assault in Boston this week.

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The company also got bad publicity from its "surge pricing," higher fares during times of high demand, after a terrorist attack on a Sydney cafe. Protests from taxi drivers and companies have led to bans in Spain, the Netherlands, Thailand and, starting Jan. 1, in France. New Delhi outlawed Uber after another rape accusation.

Phillip Cardenas, Uber's head of global safety, promised Thursday to institute tougher background checks on Uber drivers.

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