Black cab drivers and minicab services hate Uber, which undercuts them on price and they claim the ride-hailing app is given favourable treatment by London's transport regulator, Transport for London (TfL).
Trade body the London Private Hire Car Association (LPHCA) has been putting pressure on TfL to crackdown on Uber and Business Insider has seen documents that show the LPHCA has drafted in heavyweight, "Magic Circle" law firm Clifford Chance to present a legal case to get the taxi app banned in London.
Copies of evidence submitted to the Greater London Authority's Transport Committee by private hire car operator Addison Lee have been passed to Business Insider. The submission, which is part of an ongoing consultation on taxi regulation in London, includes evidence submitted seperately to TfL by the LPHCA in June.
In it the LPHCA, which represents 15,000 private hire and minicab drivers in the capital, and Clifford Chance call for TfL to hit Uber with an immediate ban until big changes are made that could cripple its business.
"We’re not surprised by the points raised in the LPHCA submission," Uber said when reached for comment. "These accusations are simply repetitions of previous complaints, all of which have been addressed numerous times."
Here's a summary of the big five arguments the LPHCA makes against Uber.
1. Uber's insurance is not up to scratch
Uber requires individual drivers to ensure their cars themselves, rather than hold a fleet-wide insurance policy as is the norm in London. The taxi industry argues that this means Uber is putting public safety at risk, as it can't guarantee all its drivers are insured.
The LPHCA uses a Schrodinger's Cat-style argument to say that this is inadequate: because Uber only checks documents when driver signs up, LPHCA claims Uber can't prove at all times that its drivers are insured. They could have cancelled their policy since signing up. Though there is no evidence that this is the case.
The industry also argues that because TfL allows Uber to operate without fleet-wide insurance, Uber gets an unfair price advantage as these policies are costly.
And by passing the saving on to the customer but still requiring the driver to buy a policy, the taxi industry argues drivers are being incentivised to cut corners on insurance to save money.
Here's Clifford Chance, on behalf of the LPHCA: "Uber's operating model facilitates and encourages increasing numbers of uninsured drivers onto the streets of London by allowing drivers to cancel their policies after registration with Uber."
The taxi body argues that the checks on these documents are flawed in the first place, pointing to a report in The Guardian on the ease of tricking the system with faked documents.
2. Uber doesn't pay tax like it should
Uber processes its UK fares through Dutch subsidiary Uber BV, meaning it gets around charging customers UK VAT at point of sale.
By processing revenue through Uber BV, the company also pays a lower rate of corporation tax. Taxi companies say this tax set-up gives Uber another unfair advantage. This issue has already been referred to the UK taxman, HMRC, which is probing Uber's tax set-up.
Business Insider has highlighted Uber's tax set-up before. A spokesperson for Uber told Business Insider at the time: "Uber complies with all applicable tax laws, and pays taxes in all the jurisdictions it operates in, including the UK."
3. It's unsupervised and unsafe
The LPHCA tells the Transport Committee in its submission (emphasis ours):
As a direct consequence of the flaws in Uber's operating model Uber drivers loiter, ply for hire, park illegally and create a public nuisance in areas of high demand such as at airports and stations, undermining London’s profile as one of the safest taxi markets in the world.
Clifford Chance concludes in its report: "These are not simply technical infractions. As Uber expands the risks associated with its operating model are becoming increasingly clear.
"Uber currently has approximately 17,000 registered drivers and has stated an intention to recruit 42,000 drivers by March 2016.
"However, when confronted by issues in relation to its drivers Uber disclaims responsibility for them on the basis that they are self-employed. In practice, the quality of regulation, oversight, and therefore the safety of the London private hire market is disintegrating rapidly as Uber expands."
It's war.
http://goo.gl/nd4Bf6
No comments:
Post a Comment