by News Desk | May 12, 2014 | World News
Uber app customer Steve Jensen catches a ride in Brisbane. Picture: Jack Tran Source: News Limited
QUEENSLAND taxi companies have slammed the idea of a ride-sharing app entering the Brisbane transport market.
The Uber app quietly started operations about three weeks ago, generously offering free rides to anyone who signed up to the platform.
But the controversial tech start-up has been causing waves around the world and was recently banned from operating as a passenger transport service in NSW.
One of the main points of contention is that anyone over 24 years can sign up to be a driver and the car must be no older than nine years.
Taxi companies are concerned about passenger safety.
Hundred of taxi driver applicants fail basic English tests
Black and White Cabs and Yellow Cabs agreed that their firms had worked for years to build checks and balances to assure the safety of drivers and customers. Both were sceptical that Uber could deliver the same level of protection.
“The problem the community will have is Uber doesn’t want to take responsibility for the service delivery and who delivers it,” Yellow Cab’s general manager Bill Parker said.
“Taxi operators are competing on an uneven playing field.”
The passengers Queenland taxi drivers avoid
Department of Transport and Main Roads Minister Scott Emerson said that based on the limited information available, he had directed his department to contact the company and investigate whether it complied with the public passenger transport legislation.
Uber, however, is confident that its own vetting processes are sufficient to put to rest any public fears.
“Every ride-sharing partner must meet our rigorous safety standards, including driver history checks, criminal background checks, requisite insurance and vehicle inspections,” Uber Brisbane manager Mike Abbott said.
“Uber’s technology also includes a feedback system which adds a layer of accountability, requiring drivers and passengers to rate each other after every trip.”
Despite it being offered for free, it’s still rare to find many people in Brisbane who’ve heard of the start-up. Steve Jensen is one customer taking advantage of the deal.
The Bank of Queensland employee has been using the app about once a day since they started operating in the city.
– See more at: http://www.supercabby.co.uk/uncategorized/taxi-companies-want-the-ride-sharing-uber-app-banned-in-queensland/#sthash.QzjlIR55.dpuf
by News Desk | May 8, 2014 | London News, UK News, World News
Uber launched its car-hire service in London in June 2012
London black-cab drivers are planning to cause gridlock in the city to protest against car service Uber.
The Licensed Taxi Drivers Association complains that Uber’s drivers are using a smartphone app to calculate fares despite it being illegal for private vehicles to be fitted with taximeters.
Transport for London has declined to intervene, because it disagrees that there has been a breach of the law.
LTDA now plans to force the issue by holding the action in early June.
“Transport for London not enforcing the Private Hire Vehicles Act is dangerous for Londoners,” Steve McNamara, LTDA’s general secretary, told the BBC.
“I anticipate that the demonstration against TfL’s handling of Uber will attract many many thousands of cabs and cause severe chaos, congestion and confusion across the metropolis.”
TfL told the association last month that it believed Uber’s vehicles were not strictly “equipped” with taximeters since there was not “some sort of connection between the device and the vehicle”.
Rather, the app was merely making use of data about the distance travelled and time taken, which was not illegal in itself.
The LTDA says it expects many thousand black cab drivers to take part in the protest
LTDA rejects this distinction and is now threatening to seek a judicial review.
“We have seen no evidence to suggest that Uber London Ltd are not fit and proper to hold a London private hire vehicle operator’s licence, but no final decisions have been made whilst Uber’s operating model is still under investigation,” TfL told the BBC.
The dispute marks the latest in a series of clashes between Uber and the established taxi trade.
The firm is also facing restrictions on its operations in Paris, Brussels, Berlin, Sydney and a number of US cities.
Disruptive drive
San Francisco-based Uber describes itself as a “pick-up” service that connects those needing a ride with a background-checked private driver, and takes a cut – typically 20% – of the fee.
It now operates in more than 100 cities across 30 countries, including Manchester where it launched this week.
The firm markets its service as offering “cutting-edge safety measures”:
- allowing customers to see the name and photo of the driver before they arrive
- letting approved friends follow the journey on a live map
- providing an email of the route the car used, so that a client can ask for a charge to be reviewed if they believe the driver took a roundabout journey
The Uber app allows customers to see how many available drivers are nearby
Fees are based upon data gathered by the driver’s app and whether “surge pricing” is in effect because of heavy demand.
The five-year-old firm acknowledges that it can prove a disruptive force.
“Competition in my view is always good for the customer because it makes all of us up our game in terms of quality and service,” Uber’s general manager in London, Jo Bertram, said.
“On the driver side, we offer a much more flexible model that is very different from the old-school private hire industry, that allows them to work as independent business operators however and whenever they choose.”
The LTDA said while the taximeter was the focus of its complaint, it had wider objections to the firm.
“Uber, funded by Google, Goldman Sachs and others, has a stated aim of challenging legislation that is not compatible with its business model,” said Mr McNamara.
“This is not some philanthropic friendly society, it’s an American monster that has no qualms about breaching any and all laws in the pursuit of profit, most of which will never see a penny of tax paid in the UK.”
A spokeswoman for Uber said it rejected this characterisation of its business,
European battles
Other traditional taxi associations are also taking a stand against the firm in Europe:
- In Brussels a complaint resulted in a court setting a 10,000 euro ($13,920; £8,205) fine as the penalty for Uber drivers who continued to pick up customers without the necessary licences
- Berlin’s taxi association has won a temporary injunction against the firm, but has chosen not to enforce the action to avoid the risk of having to cover lost fees if the ruling is later overturned
- French operators have convinced their government to propose banning the use of GPS-enabled apps by private car services including Uber. The government had previously made such companies wait 15 minutes before picking up a booking, but the country’s Supreme Court ruled the move anti-competitive
French taxi drivers have opposed Uber’s service in Paris
Uber does, however, have support from the European Commission.
Vice-president Neelie Kroes has said her staff used the service to “stay safe and save taxpayers money”, adding that European authorities should help the firm comply with standards rather than trying to ban it.
Source: BBC
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