NEW YORK

Uber Technologies Inc.’s “genius” just backfired on the company and its co-founder Travis Kalanick.

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan on Thursday denied Kalanick’s bid to dismiss a proposed class-action lawsuit claiming the technology in Uber’s popular ride-hailing app is used to illegally coordinate high surge-pricing fares.

Rakoff rejected Kalanick’s assertion that a conspiracy involving hundreds of thousands of drivers was “wildly implausible” and “physically impossible,” an argument the executive made in filings since the suit was filed in December.

“The capacity to orchestrate such an agreement is the ‘genius’ of Mr. Kalanick and his company, which, through the magic of smartphone technology, can invite hundreds of thousands of drivers in far-flung locations to agree to Uber’s terms,” the judge said.

The ruling allows Spencer Meyer, a customer in Connecticut, to move forward with his claim that Uber’s pricing algorithm violates antitrust laws used to protect consumers from price manipulation.

Meyer’s lawsuit seeks damages on behalf of millions of U.S. riders who rely on the world’s largest ride-hailing company, and opens a new line of legal attacks on sharing-economy businesses. Uber faces other lawsuits and regulatory challenges over its business model, including demands by its drivers to be classified as employees instead of independent contractors.
Fundamentally Flawed

Uber argues the conspiracy described in the New York complaint and ruling would be physically impossible under the antitrust law, and that if Uber lost at trial then thousands of drivers would be forced to pay damages. The company also contends the case is fundamentally flawed because Kalanick would have to personally compete with Uber drivers for rides in order for the type of conspiracy alleged in the case to be true.

“These claims are unwarranted and have no basis in fact. In just five years since its founding, Uber has increased competition, lowered prices, and improved service,” Uber said in an e-mailed statement.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and other regulators have also complained about Uber’s pricing algorithm, which ensures standard fares under normal conditions. In certain situations, such as heavy traffic, bad weather or on holidays, the fares rise sometimes to many times the normal rate in a practice known as surge pricing. The company pledged to limit the increases in emergencies under an agreement with Schneiderman in 2014.
Price Fixer

Meyer alleged in his complaint that Kalanick designed the company “to be a price fixer” because its drivers “do not compete” but rather charge fares set by the algorithm. Uber takes a cut of the fares. The business plan amounts to an antitrust scheme because the drivers, despite charging the same prices, are supposedly independent service providers, according to Meyer.

“Kalanick has long insisted that Uber is not a transportation company and that it does not employ drivers,” Meyer’s lawyers said in his complaint. “Instead, Uber is a technology company, whose chief product is a smartphone app.”

Rakoff said Meyer has plausibly alleged a conspiracy and the case should go to trial.
‘Disguise Itself’

“The fact that Uber goes to such lengths to portray itself -- one might even say disguise itself -- as the mere purveyor of an ‘app’ cannot shield it from the consequences of its operating as much more,” the judge said.

At this point in the case, the plaintiff doesn’t need to present “direct, ‘smoking gun’ evidence of a conspiracy,” Rakoff said.

Evan Rawley, a professor at Columbia Business School, still sees the risk to Uber as remote.

“One always has to worry about lawsuits, but this one is so far-fetched that I wouldn’t lose much sleep over it if I were Uber,” Rawley said. “However, if the plaintiff won, it would indeed be potentially costly to Uber since it would interfere with how the core of their business operates.”

Andrew Schmidt, Meyer’s lawyer, didn’t immediately respond to voicemail and e-mail messages seeking comment on the ruling.
Drivers’ Trial

Uber is set for a trial in June in San Francisco federal court in a case brought by drivers seeking to collect pay and benefits as employees. A victory for the drivers may upend Uber’s business model and cut into its more than $60 billion valuation.

The ride-hailing service launched in 2010, has grown rapidly and now has a presence in 65 countries.

Uber and its competitors are able to keep down their costs by using contractors rather than employees. Typically, contractors pay their own expenses and aren’t protected by minimum wage and overtime laws. Companies don’t pay for their unemployment insurance, workers compensation or Social Security.

The case is Meyer v. Kalanick, 1:15-cv-09796, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

http://goo.gl/3CH11X
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 What Life Is Like For Lady Taxi Drivers Of Dubai

This is what a day looks like for Babi, one of the lady taxi drivers of Dubai. She wakes up at 4 a.m., to get to work by 5 a.m. Her goal is to make 500 AED a day, or about $135.

Wearing a uniform that identifies her as a lady taxi driver, she picks up customers at one of the two airports in Dubai. If she’s lucky, she meets her earnings goal by 5 p.m.; if she’s unlucky, it’s 7 p.m.

Then she returns home, to a one-room apartment, plus kitchen and toilet, that she shares with her husband and two daughters, 9 and 11. Her evening is consumed with cooking, dinner for the family, plus lunches for everyone for the following day.

She works six days a week, with one day off, Friday. On that day, she does laundry and rests.

“It’s life,” she said, in English. “It’s not meant to be easy.”

The lady taxi drivers of Dubai are one of the oddities of this new world city: If you’re a woman, landing at the airport, you get offered their services. I’ve taken up the offer twice, and curious, struck up conversations with both of my lady taxi drivers. I wanted to get a small glimpse into the lives of working class people caught up in the boundless energy that seems to characterize Dubai. My lady taxi drivers were both entrepreneurs: working for themselves, on commission, like taxi, Uber or Careem drivers anywhere.

The sense I got from listening to these women is one that will feel familiar to women everywhere: There’s the question, always, of time: A wife and a mother has next to none, not even enough time to think or plan for the future. And a younger woman is very aware of time, too: This one was putting off men in the hope of saving money to start a business, but even in their 20s, most women, like this one, are aware that the clock is ticking.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/elizabethmacbride/2016/03/31/what-life-is-like-for-lady-taxi-drivers-of-dubai/#74d8faad3874
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 OTTAWA

The City of Ottawa is embracing Uber and other ride-sharing services, proposing a major reform that is already infuriating taxi drivers who fear the value of their city-issued permits will plummet.

In a move that will be closely watched by cities across the country and internationally, Canada’s capital city is proposing to deregulate the existing cab industry and start fresh with two distinct categories that will be subject to minimum standards related to vehicle safety and insurance.

Existing licensed cabs will continue to have exclusive rights to pick up passengers who hail a ride on the street or at taxi stands. However, the city says it will not compensate taxi drivers for any loss in value of their taxi permits, which have been worth hundreds of thousands of dollars each because the city restricted their supply.

The draft plan, which the city says is based on overwhelming public calls for change over several months of consultations, will be voted on by council on April 13. If the plan is approved, the new rules will be in place June 30. Until then, Uber remains an illegal service and the city will continue to enforce existing bylaws.

The City of Ottawa’s announcement comes as Toronto is also expected to soon announce its own plan for dealing with the city’s taxis and ride-sharing services. Officials with the two cities have been working closely together on their plans in recent months, so it is possible Ottawa’s approach provides an indication of where Toronto is headed.

Ride-sharing programs such as Uber are creating dramatic change for municipal governments around the world as the popularity of the services forces city planners to weigh their impact on existing taxi rules, traffic patterns and public transit use.

Under Ottawa’s proposed plan, passengers would maintain the formal right to complain to the city for poor taxi service, but no municipal complaint process would exist for ride-sharing services, which will be categorized as Private Transportation Companies. The city is describing ride-sharing – which connects passengers and drivers via a cellphone app – as a “buyer beware” option that will be subject to a basic level of regulation.

“This is not fair what is happening here and we will not tolerate it. This is my promise,” shouted Unifor Local 1688 president Amrik Singh outside council chambers after hearing about the plan for the first time. Mr. Singh represents about 1,800 licensed taxi drivers in Ottawa.

Coventry Connections president Hanif Patni, who heads the city’s main taxi-dispatching company, said the plan will hurt drivers who invested their life savings so they could enter the business. Mr. Patni said there are currently 1,187 taxi licences in Ottawa, and purchasing one prior to the arrival of Uber would have cost more than $300,000.

“Of course drivers would be livid by that, and we have to be concerned about the viability of the taxi drivers and the viability of the taxi companies,” Mr. Patni said, adding that it is too soon to discuss potential legal action.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawas-proposal-to-legalize-uber-draws-ire-from-taxi-industry/article29487000/
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Southampton Football Club is pleased to announce Radio Taxis as the club’s first Official Taxi Supplier.

Established in 1976, Radio Taxis is the largest Taxi and Private Hire Company in Southampton, and has signed a two-and-a-half year deal with the club.

Working with the club, Radio Taxis will be available on all matchdays to take supporters to and from games at St Mary’s, while Saints Foundation will also use them for travel throughout the community. They will also be the official supplier for Halo Conferences & Events.

Radio Taxis are working on a number of schemes, including the ‘We Care’ initiative that ensures safety comes first, priding themselves in providing up-to-date technology to ensure a faster and safer taxi booking service.

http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/news/article/20160331-southampton-radio-taxis-announcement-3035181.aspx#qiRHGOJAxQjZATrp.99
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EIRE

Complaints over taxi driver behaviour made to the National Transport Authority (NTA) accounted for more than half of the total complaints concerning taxis last year.

Among the complaint details released by the National Transport Authority (NTA), were concerns raised by a small number of customers who felt frightened by taxi driver behaviour.

In one case, a hotel worker said that a driver told the worker to f**k off several times, and that he would “see me on Monday night when I am alone”.

As a result of the complaint, the NTA issued the driver with a reminder of his duties and responsibilities as a taxi driver.

Vehicle condition

In response to a Freedom of Information request, the NTA confirmed that the number of taxi complaints last year totalled 928, compared to 952 in 2014.

The detailed breakdown shows that complaints about taxi driver behaviour totalled 491 last year, or 53 per cent of complaints, with 53 complaints about vehicle condition.

One passenger wrote to the NTA to complain that there was hair literally everywhere in a very dirty taxi, “and a smell I can only describe as days-old sweat”.

Another passenger, complaining about the condition of a taxi, said, “the car was like a fridge and the seats felt damp. When I got out of the car at Hatch St, Dublin 2, I realised that the car was missing the entire large glass panel at the rear that forms part of the boot underneath the rear windscreen”.

The outcome was that the vehicle was repaired and then inspected. The NTA stated: “All found to be in order. Advice given.”

The second most frequent reason for complaint related to fares, accounting for 297, or 32 per cent of complaints. The NTA also received 83 complaints relating to ‘hiring matters’ and four in relation to identification.

Warnings

In only 2 per cent of complaints did the NRA issue the driver with a fixed payment notice, while in another 2 per cent drivers were given warnings concerning their behaviour.

The figures show that in 58 per cent of complaints, no further action was taken, while in 29 per cent of cases, advice was given to the drivers by the NTA.The NTA said that 202 complaints were referred to the Garda last year.

However, the NRA stressed that the complaints referred are not based on the gravity of the offence, but the nature of the complaint and the powers of the Garda to deal with them.

http://goo.gl/0ZJX9S