Company claims 2 million rides taken during New Year's celebration

Uber has claimed that it welcomed the New Year 2015 with 2 million rides, many of them apparently to revellers heading home in the early morning hours.

While the demand for rides increased from 1am - 2am in most cities where Uber operates, party goers in Paris didn't put pressure on the car-sharing service until after 4am local time.

The Uber smartphone application was also downloaded more than 20,000 times after midnight on New Year's Eve, the company added.

According to the San Francisco-based startup, use of Uber through the night hit a peak of 58 rides, reaching their destinations a second.

In December, Uber scrambled to allay fears that executives at the hot car-sharing startup are gunning for journalists and spying on riders.

The controversy widened when a BuzzFeed report indicated that executives at Uber had taken liberties with access to a "God View" that showed where riders and their drivers were located at any given time.

The firm, which lets customers order and pay for taxis or private vehicles via smartphones, has been unofficially valued in the range of US$25 billion to US$30 billion based on funding rounds.

Its smartphone app connects users with local drivers and the company charges a commission for each ride.

Founded in 2009, Uber is now present in more than 200 cities and in 45 countries.

The rapid expansion of the company which faced some setbacks last year, has caused tensions with traditional taxi drivers, especially in Europe.