Irish Taxi Forum
Public Area => Taxi Talk => Topic started by: The Liffey Lip on September 30, 2017, 12:27:12 pm
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http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-41450980 (http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-41450980)
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TfL tried to introduce rules that were widely believed to be anti-Uber, apart from an English language proficiency requirement for drivers Uber had them overturned in court, that's probably the real reason for it's current licensing difficulties. Interesting that it (and Lyft) refused to comply with Austin's fingerprint requirements, opting to leave town instead. The fact that the requirements were subsequently overturned and they both returned is testament to their commitment to principle, I guess.
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Several other American cities took the initiative and did background checks (incl fingerprints) on Uber drivers. A significant minority of them were rapists/murderers etc*. Uber's background checks are not foolproof.
The real reason Uber don't want proper background checks if they don't want the extra time and expense of these checks. Remember half of their drivers give up within a year. They need a constant flow of new victimsdrivers (in America anyways)
One of the main reasons they're having trouble in London is because they 'disrepected'/ignored the regulator. It's usually a bad idea to bite the hand that feeds you.
* I posted the link on the 'other site' but I'll never find the original story now...
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I don't think they ignored TfL... I guess successfully challenging some of it's reforms in the courts could be construed as being disrespectful.
I think there's more to their opposing fingerprinting in the US than time/expense. As noted in the article money is no object when it come to campaigning against the same.