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Italian prosecutor asks to lift special administration for Uber Italia

FILE PHOTO: The spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Amsterdam

MILAN (Reuters) - A Milan prosecutor has asked a court to lift in advance the special administration it had imposed on an Italian unit of Uber Technologies as part of a probe into alleged exploitation of food delivery riders, the company said.

A judicial source confirmed the prosecutor's request.

Italian magistrates in May placed the company under special administration, while they were looking into a case concerning around 1,000 delivery riders, who were alleged to have been paid three euros an hour to deliver meals.

A company put under special administration can continue to operate but is run by court-appointed administrators instead of its usual management team. The administrators have to send regular reports to the judges.

"The report of the court-appointed administrator shows that the company has implemented a plan to improve compliance with the consequent reorganization of the company," Uber Italy said in a statement.

"We have worked hard over the past few months to strengthen our processes with the goal of providing couriers with a safe, rewarding and flexible work environment," the company said, adding it would continue to collaborate with the authorities.

The court will decide within 15 days whether to accept the request, the judicial source added.

(Reporting by Emilio Parodi; Editing by Edmund Blair)