AMSTERDAM, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Ride-hailing platform Uber ( UBER )

has been fined 290 million euros ($324 million) in the

Netherlands for sending the personal data of European taxi

drivers to the United States in violation of EU rules, Dutch

data protection watchdog DPA said on Monday.

Uber ( UBER ) has stopped the practice, DPA added.

"This flawed decision and extraordinary fine are completely

unjustified. Uber's ( UBER ) cross-border data transfer process was

compliant with GDPR during a 3-year period of immense

uncertainty between the EU and U.S.. We will appeal and remain

confident that common sense will prevail," Uber ( UBER ) spokesperson

Caspar Nixon told Reuters in an email.

"Uber ( UBER ) transferred personal data of European taxi drivers to

the United States and failed to appropriately safeguard the

data," the DPA said

"This constitutes a serious violation of the General Data

Protection Regulation (GDPR)," it said.

The investigation was triggered by a complaint from French

taxi drivers.

French national data protection regulator CNIL said in a

separate statement that it had cooperated with its peer in the

Netherlands where Uber ( UBER ) has its main European base.

($1 = 0.8942 euros)