Uber drivers are workers, UK supreme court rules

[CountDeMoney]

Colorado fines Uber $8.9M for allowing dozens of unauthorized drivers
Colorado found many drivers with "suspended, revoked, or cancelled driver's licenses."
Cyrus Farivar - 11/21/2017, 1:25 PM
Ars Technica

Colorado authorities have issued an $8.9 million fine against Uber for authorizing drivers who had prior disqualifying criminal or vehicle-related offenses.

According to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, Uber allowed 57 drivers over the last 18 months to drive who should not have been permitted to drive for the company.

The agency wrote in a Monday statement that its staff "launched an investigation earlier this year after a referral from the Vail Police Department about an Uber driver accused of assaulting a passenger."

The PUC then cross-checked Uber's provided records with state criminal and court records.

"PUC staff found that Uber allowed individuals to drive with previous felony convictions, major moving violations (DUI, DWI, reckless driving, driving under restraint), and numerous instances of individuals driving with suspended, revoked or cancelled driver's licenses," the agency continued.

Following its investigation, the PUC found 12 Uber drivers had felony convictions, and one even had escaped from prison and nevertheless was allowed to drive with Uber.

According to the Denver Post, the PUC ran a similar check on Lyft drivers and found no such violations.

"We recently discovered a process error that was inconsistent with Colorado's ridesharing regulations and proactively notified the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)," Uber said in a statement provided by Stephanie Sedlak, a spokeswoman.

"This error affected a small number of drivers and we immediately took corrective action. Per Uber safety policies and Colorado state regulations, drivers with access to the Uber app must undergo a nationally accredited third-party background screening. We will continue to work closely with the CPUC to enable access to safe, reliable transportation options for all Coloradans."

[garbon]

I had deleted app a while ago but finally put in to delete my account. Swerved past the trap in list of reasons for wanting to delete account that was 'no longer support the company' and preferred not to answer.

[garbon]

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/25/uber-loses-licence-london-tfl

Uber loses London licence after TfL finds drivers faked identity

Uber has lost its licence to operate private hire vehicles in London after authorities found that more than 14,000 trips were taken with more than 40 drivers who had faked their identity on the Uber app.

Transport for London announced the decision not to renew the ride-hailing firm's licence at the end of a two-month probationary extension granted in September. Uber was told then it needed to address issues with checks on drivers, insurance and safety, but has failed to satisfy the capital's transport authorities.

TfL said on Monday it had identified a "pattern of failures" by Uber, including several breaches that placed passengers and their safety at risk.

In a statement, TfL said: "Despite addressing some of these issues, TfL does not have confidence that similar issues will not reoccur in the future, which has led it to conclude that the company is not fit and proper at this time."

The decision will not see Uber cars disappear from London immediately, as the firm has said it would appeal and could continue to operate pending the outcome provided it launched official proceedings within 21 days.

When TfL first rejected Uber's licence renewal, in September 2017, the firm eventually persuaded judges to award it a 15-month licence to continue.

While TfL said Uber had since made positive improvements, reservations remained – including a change to systems that allowed unauthorised drivers to upload their photos to other drivers' accounts. This security lapse resulted in at least 14,000 trips where someone other than the booked driver picked up passengers, TfL said.

The latest offence reported was less than three weeks ago. Some 43 fraudulent drivers have been discovered, including some whose licences had been revoked, one driver who had been cautioned for distributing indecent images of children.

Uber said it first notified TfL about the issue in May 2019 and had since implemented technical fixes to resolve it. A spokeswoman said an audit of all London drivers had demonstrated the fix was effective.

Jamie Heywood, Uber's regional general manager, said: "TfL's decision not to renew Uber's licence in London is extraordinary and wrong, and we will appeal.

"We have fundamentally changed our business over the last two years and are setting the standard on safety.

"On behalf of the 3.5 million riders and 45,000 licensed drivers who depend on Uber in London, we will continue to operate as normal and will do everything we can to work with TfL to resolve this situation."

London remains one of Uber's biggest worldwide markets. Shares in the firm fell almost 6% in pre-market trading in New York.

...

[Grey Fox]

[DGuller]

Old schools cartels are not just going to roll over when new tech assholes come for their racket.

[Tonitrus]

Uber is just a small skirmish in compared to the coming fully-automated Johnny Cabs.

[dps]

Bet you'd find a lot of drivers of conventional cabs using fake IDs if you look hard enough.

[garbon]

Old schools cartels are not just going to roll over when new tech assholes come for their racket.

Very true.

[Sheilbh]

Old schools cartels are not just going to roll over when new tech assholes come for their racket.

But that's not really what's happening here.

Uber is a minicab firm with an app. There are multiple other similar apps operating in London (personally I find Bolt more reliable and a little cheaper). So the issue isn't the business model and it's not driven by the 20k or so cabbies (who I think are mainly a tourist attraction - get your racist tour of London here!).

The problems with Uber seem to be around it's systems not working and them not being able to convince TfL they do, even if they're engaging more constructively now. I've stopped using Uber for a while because I think they are having more general issues with their systems in London generally. I got rid of the apps because of the number of issues I had with multiple last minute cancellations.

I also think the not under the right ID issue is possibly second order, but more sympathetic because it's about user safety. I think it's the uninsured drivers that may be causing particular concerns for TfL.

Bet you'd find a lot of drivers of conventional cabs using fake IDs if you look hard enough.

There's actually a wider investigation into the minicab market on this - there are some companies who seem to be routinely operating with minicab drivers using someone else's ID.

[Admiral Yi]

Uber is a minicab firm with an app.

Minicab firms have a fixed number of drivers and fixed pricing.

[Sheilbh]

What I mean is there's nothing special or magical about the actual tech/platform. Which is why there are so many alternatives that do broadly the same.

I don't know what you mean by minicab firms having fixed number of drivers or pricing though.

[Admiral Yi]

What I mean is there's nothing special or magical about the actual tech/platform. Which is why there are so many alternatives that do broadly the same.

I don't know what you mean by minicab firms having fixed number of drivers or pricing though.

Unless I'm misinformed, minicabs operate like regular cabs.  They have fixed, publlished fares, not "dynamic priciing" which varies the price according to supply and demand.  Each mincab company has its own stable of drivers.

I least that's what I got from that Brit movie with the odd looking actor and the fat son who has a heart attack.

[Admiral Yi]

The dude who played Churchill in The King's Speech.

[Sheilbh]

Okay, I think that's just the traditional model where they have an office and a stable. And you normally can go into the office and haggle the price (varying levels of success ).

None of that's a legal requirement though, it's just the old way of doing business is you have a fixed office with a stable of riders. So some of the competitors for Uber in London have actually been platforms where minicab firms can bid for the work and the user gets the cheapest.

The dude who played Churchill in The King's Speech.

....Gary Oldman?

[Admiral Yi]

Are you shitting me?

Timothy Spall.