It looks like some Brazilian taxi drivers have resorted to violence in a bid to push Uber out of their cities. A report from TechCrunch reveals the stiff resistance that the ride sharing platform has encountered in the country.

One of the more shocking stories came from the city of Sao Paulo, where local taxi drivers kidnapped and assaulted an Uber driver. In addition to all this, his vehicle was stolen and later found severely damaged.

The local report from Brazilian news site Folha details the events:

The driver of the application said he was surrounded by about 20 taxis, around 3:30 am, on Santa Justina Street.

He got out of the car and tried to escape on foot, according to his testimony, but was reached out by four men who forced him to get into a taxi.

The group wandered for about 30 minutes and then left him on Funchal street, 1.5 km away. The victim said he even got punched in the mouth.

The driver´s car was taken and found four hours later, "completely damaged", according to the police report.

The app hasn't fared much better in other Brazilian cities either. Last week Eduadro Paes, Mayor of Olympic host city Rio de Janeiro, banned the app in anticipation of next year's games.

Uber responded to this decision saying:

"It is a sad day for Rio. To please taxi owners in the city, Mayor Paes sanctioned a completely unconstitutional bill to ban technology from the city, leaving cariocas (Rio residents) with less options to move around."

Much of the anger against Uber in Brazil stems from its lack of regulations. Regular taxis must pass through a battery of tests and paperwork before hitting the road. Here's what Rio cabbie Elizeu Soares told The Guardian:

"We have to go through inspections; they don't. We have to pay for special documentation; they don't. The only advantage we have is to pay a bit less when we buy new cars, but even that doesn't make up for all the costs. They can't just come to Brazil and throw us out of business."