UBER'S BRAZIL UMBRA

In Brazil, Uber wages battle over regulations : Company's lobbying blitz appears to have paid off in its second largest market.

A few weeks after being banned in London, Uber, the titan of ride-sharing services, is waging a new  high-stakes regulatory fight in Brazil, the company's second-largest market.

Brazilian lawmakers last week moved on a bill that, as originally proposed, would have imposed licensing requirements that Uber said cripple its model.

But a last minute lobbying blitz by the company, including a trip to Sao Paulo by its new chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, appeared to have paid off.

The Senate tacked on amendments that significantly watered down the regulatory burdens.

That kicked the legislation back to the House   -and gave the company time to fight an effort by taxi unions to draw it and other  app-based services out of the market.

In the coming weeks Uber expects to lobby members of the House to sign-off on the amendments, which the company spokesman, Fabio Sabba, called  ''effective regulation''  and no longer a  ''veiled prohibition''.

It is not clear how soon the  House will take up the  measure.

On the eve last Tuesday's vote in the Senate,  Uber drivers protested by blocking roads, paralyzing parts of Brasilia,  the capital, and Sao Paulo. Brazil's financial hub.

The company took out  prime-time ads on Globo,  Brazil's main television station, and arranged meetings between Mr. Khosrowshahi and senior Brazilian officials, including  Finance Minister  Henrique Meirelles.