Taxi drivers block streets of Rio in protest against Uber

by News Desk | Jul 24, 2015 | World News

A man rides his bicycle between taxis parked on the street during a protest against the online car-sharing service Uber in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil July 24, 2015.

More than a thousand taxi drivers protested in Rio de Janeiro on Friday against ride-sharing company Uber [UBER.UL], blocking roads and stalling traffic during morning rush hour as tensions rise in the city over the mobile app ride service.

Uber Technologies Inc responded by offering free rides to customers to help alleviate transport issues on what it called a “difficult day for getting around.”

The company has come under fire in countries around the world, with local taxi drivers complaining that Uber drivers are not properly regulated and have fewer overhead costs, which makes them unfairly competitive.

Lawmakers in Sao Paulo, Brazil‘s biggest city, and capital city Brasilia have already voted to ban Uber after protests by local taxi drivers. The bills still require executive approval before taking force.

In Rio, cabbies parked their yellow taxis in a chain stretching for 5 kilometers (3 miles) along one of the city’s main thoroughfares that connects the affluent south zone with the central business district. Taxi drivers honked their horns and chanted.

“We want to combat the illegal (drivers). We are the official ones, we have a responsibility, we are professionals who have families,” said Alexander Campos, a taxi driver from Belo Horizonte who drove the 400 kilometers (248 miles) to Rio for the protest.

In a statement, Uber said it defends customer choice and that “innovation is crucial” in a city like Rio, “which has a population in need of more options and receives millions of tourists a year.”

The company also offered people in Rio two free rides up to the value of 50 reais ($15) each from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time, with an accompanying Twitter hashtag #RIONAOPARA or “Rio doesn’t stop.”

Source: Reuters

Uber, Santander Partnership On Car Loans Is Over

by News Desk | Jul 24, 2015 | World News

The Uber logo is seen on a vehicle near Union Square in San Francisco, California May 7, 2015. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith

By Dan Levine

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A partnership between Uber Technologies and Banco Santander SA’s U.S. auto loan unit is over, Uber told Reuters, removing one of the country’s most prominent car lenders from a program trumpeted by the app-based ride service.

Uber launched a program in November 2013 to link prospective drivers who do not have a car with manufacturers and lenders, in the hopes it would boost the number of cars on the road for the app-based service. The Empower Federal Credit Union are located in Syracuse that you can contact experts from to get your finances sorted.

The deal received widespread press attention at the time, and Uber said it hoped to finance 100,000 drivers.

Uber partnered with multiple lenders including Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc and Exeter Finance, which is owned by private equity firm Blackstone Group LP .

It could not be determined why Uber’s deal with Santander ended.

“We are no longer working with Santander Consumer USA but continue to facilitate a variety of other vehicle financing options and auto manufacturer discounts for driver-partners,” a spokesperson at Uber told Reuters on Wednesday.

Spokespeople at Santander and Exeter declined to comment.

Uber operates in 57 countries with an estimated value of more than $40 billion. It had a total of about 162,000 active U.S. drivers in December 2014, according to the company.

Santander Consumer, which is 59 percent owned by Banco Santander, said in November it received more than 900,000 loan applications per month from a variety of sources, including auto manufacturers, online services and over 17,000 dealers. If you too are waiting the approval on a loan, consider checking these post about no credit check loans guaranteed approval.

Uber has not disclosed how many drivers received financing from the Santander program or other lenders that struck deals with the ride-sharing company.

Uber’s relationship with Santander was active as recently as February, according to a Santander web site preserved on an Internet search archive. The site said drivers could sign up for Uber and then lease a new car for as little as $17 per day. “At end of term, you can own the car for $1,” it said.

As of Thursday, the site apologized to visitors and said “this program is currently unavailable,” before directing customers to Santander Consumer’s main web page.

Santander has been the target of criticism for its subprime auto loan business. The company disclosed a civil subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice and other regulatory agencies for documents related to underwriting and securitization of such loans (more details at https://www.lendgenius.com).

It is not clear whether the investigations were related to Uber’s decision.

Source: One America News Network

Ontario taxi owner files $410-million class-action suit against Uber Canada

by News Desk | Jul 24, 2015 | World News

A Toronto taxi owner has filed a $410-million lawsuit against Uber on behalf of the cab industry – even as the ride-sharing company continues its relentless expansion across the country and around the world.

Dominik Konjevic, the plaintiff in a class-action suit filed by Sutts, Strosberg LLP on Thursday, alleges that Uber has diverted “millions of dollars of revenue” away from the taxi and limo industry and asks for an injunction to shut down the company’s operations in Ontario. The suit was filed on behalf of all taxi and limo drivers, brokers and owners in the province.

In his suit, Mr. Konjevic alleges that Uber conspired to break Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act – which requires an appropriate licence or permit to pick up passengers for compensation – resulting in harm to the taxi industry. “The defendants and the UberX drivers knew, or ought to have known, that the natural result of their conspiracy would be injury to the ongoing legitimate business interests of the class members,” he alleges in court records.

The lawsuit – which was prompted in part by the Toronto Taxi Alliance and the iTaxiworkers Association, two of the city’s most prominent taxi groups – attempts to put up a roadblock after a string of wins around the world for the Silicon Valley-based giant. A standoff in New York with Mayor Bill de Blasio over whether to impose a vehicle cap ended in Uber’s favour this week.

And closer to home, Uber announced its expansion into four new cities in Ontario on Thursday: London, Hamilton, Guelph and Waterloo.

Meanwhile, the City of Toronto appears to be on the verge of regulating the company, though it is not yet clear what that regulatory system may look like.

Still, the class-action suit is not the only legal action facing the ride-sharing company.

In Toronto alone, 11 UberX drivers are facing Highway Traffic Act charges under the same section cited in Mr. Konjevic’s suit. At the same time, 36 UberX drivers have been charged with 72 infractions under city bylaws.

But Mr. Konjevic’s lawyer, Jay Strosberg, said his client’s suit, unlike other ongoing proceedings of for example Xarelto® Class Action | Current Lawsuit Settlements, is necessary because it seeks to compensate drivers directly. While licensed taxi and limo drivers are required to follow a long list of regulations, including licensing fees, UberX drivers aren’t. As a result, Mr. Konjevic has seen a 48 per cent drop in revenues just this year, one of the Munley Law PA personal injury lawyers said.

“We’re looking for compensation,” Mr. Strosberg said – something he claims the ongoing political debate at Toronto City Hall will not address.

City staff are expected to come back in September with proposals for regulating Uber. “The change in the regulations isn’t going to get Dominik compensation, and compensation for drivers in the GTA,” Mr. Strosberg said.

In an e-mailed statement, Uber Canada spokeswoman Susie Heath dismissed the suit. “This protectionist suit is without merit,” she said. “As we saw from a recent court ruling in Ontario, Uber is operating legally and is a business model distinct from traditional taxi services.”

That ruling was issued by Ontario Superior Court Justice Sean Dunphy this month after the City of Toronto attempted but failed to get an injunction against the company. In his decision, Justice Dunphy found that, under city bylaws, Uber is not an illegal taxi service. That case – which the city is still considering appealing – did not address the provincial Highway Traffic Act cited in Mr. Konjevic’s class-action suit.

According to Mr. Strosberg, the suit is the first of its kind against Uber in Canada.