Taxi service Uberpop will start trying to attract new drivers with a €100 start-up bonus in the Netherlands, the AD reports on Thursday.

This is completely at odds with the efforts of police and justice ministry officials to curb the service, which breaks taxi legislation, the paper points out. Several Uberpop drivers have already been fined and face legal hearings.

Uber Nederland director Niek van Leeuwen told the paper the bonus is necessary because there are too few drivers in Rotterdam, The Hague and Amsterdam – the three Dutch cities where the service operates.

Uberpop allows private individuals to act as taxi drivers but has run into legal problems in several countries.

Van Leeuwen told the paper that drivers can pass any fines on to Uber while the issue of the company’s legality is fought out in the courts.

Currently in the Netherlands, taxi drivers have to be licenced and have their cars fitted with an approved meter.