Legal hiccups hinder Uber’s smooth ride
The app that changed the way you ride has been in the news for flouting New Zealand laws. With the government’s warning that Uber might face potential ban across the country, is the ride-sharing company heading towards its doomsday by stubbornly refusing to abide by the law? We find out.
Uber might be headed into trouble. For a company that is much-admired as one of the most successful start-ups in Silicon Valley, it has been plagued by several serious allegations.
In the United States, Uber faced two class-action lawsuits: O’Connor in California and Yucesoy in Massachusetts. Drivers were unhappy with being labelled and treated as ‘independent contractors', which meant that they did not have access to full-time employment benefits—a decision that has acted as an incentive to Uber’s growing business model.
However, Uber drivers criticised the policy saying that they should be entitled to full-time employee benefits such as reimbursement for expenses such as vehicle maintenance and gasoline. In April 2016, Uber issued a statement saying that they had settled the two cases, which meant that drivers would remain as independent contractors. As compensation, the company had to give $100 million to the 385,000 drivers across the two states.
But it was still too early for Uber to celebrate. In less than a month later, the company ran into legal trouble again; this time, it was a nation-wide lawsuit covering drivers from across the U.S., except California and Massachusetts. It’s the biggest legal threat the tech start-up faces.
And if this wasn’t enough for the Uber management to lose its good night sleep, problems popped up their ugly face in other countries. In India, the company faced sexual assault allegations that led to the introduction of the SOS button in the app to let riders immediately connect with local police in case of an emergency. Other countries such as South Korea are delaying their decisions on allowing Uber to operate. Cape Town in South Africa impounded 34 Uber vehicles early last year when drivers were caught breaking the law for operating the service without valid permits for metered taxis.
Coming back to New Zealand, Uber has locked horns with the government—not quite a smart move. In April this year, they updated their license regulation policy where it conveniently dropped its requirements for drivers to acquire an NZTA (New Zealand Transport Agency)-sanctioned P (passenger) endorsement on their license. When NZTA got the whiff of it, it issued notices to several Uber drivers.
It started off when Uber extended its operations in New Zealand to include Christchurch in March. Back then, they informed their drivers that they could do away with the P endorsement to start working with the company. The following month, the policy was rolled out in Auckland and Wellington.
What does the P endorsement mean? It’s an approval that you get from NZTA when you start driving a small passenger service vehicle such as taxis. P endorsement is approved for applicants, who have held a full New Zealand class 1 driver licence for at least two years and who provide a certificate showing that they have completed an approved P endorsement course, which can take up to eight weeks. The driver’s application also undergoes a ‘fit and proper person’ check by NZTA to ensure they haven’t committed criminal or transport-related offences. Under New Zealand law, drivers cannot operate a small passenger service unless they obtain the necessary certificates.
And that’s precisely where Uber went wrong in New Zealand when it introduced its security screening process in April.
Uber fails to follow New Zealand rules. Should it be allowed to play the game
Uber’s policy change meant that any person could become an Uber driver till they cleared the screening test set by the company. The process was completed in less than a week and would cost a mere $20 compared to the P endorsement required, which takes several months and can cost up to $2000.
Transport Minister Simon Bridges had said that Uber’s change in policy was illegal in New Zealand. He was recently quoted as saying by Stuff.co.nz that if Uber refused to follow the law, the government would have to take its drivers off the road. “The government has zero tolerance for illegal behaviour.”
As opposed to Bridges, ACT Party Leader David Seymour considers the government’s proposal to ban Uber in New Zealand as “absolutely wrong”.
“The government should be creating an environment where New Zealanders access the best technology in the world, not banning it.”
He added that the government should make the P endorsement process simpler and cheaper.
“$2000 is a ridiculous price...the Minister has admitted in the parliament that people who have injured and killed others while driving drunk can get one (P endorsement). The only reason the government should be involved is that it has access to sensitive information about criminal convictions and traffic infringements; its role should be limited to providing a check against data on these questions, which should take a matter of moments.”
When Indian Weekender brought up the issue again with Bridges, the Minister said, “The government supports innovation in this sector, but the basic safety requirements around the P endorsements are non-negotiable. We have made it clear that all players including Uber are expected to follow the law and for the New Zealand Transport Agency, as the regulator, to enforce the law. The government is working on significantly reducing the amount of time it takes to get a P endorsement as well as cutting the cost to get them by about a third.”
In response to the government’s statement, Uber’s Australasian policy director said, as quoted by RNZ, has said, “The last time I checked there was no problem with sharing a ride in your own vehicle and that’s exactly what people are doing... We think that it would be unacceptable if the government thought to punish people for providing safe and reliable transport.”
But is it really safe? Passengers have in the past notified Uber on several occasions about sexual advances and improper behaviour from the drivers. In March this year, a Wellington Uber driver had reportedly “hit on” a 15-year-old year. After dropping her off to her destination, he asked for the girl’s number and said that they should hang out after he finishes work. When the girl’s friend posted about the incident on Facebook, it caught the attention of the media and also generated replies from four women who had been at the receiving end. While apart from the Wellington case, no case has been publicly reported in New Zealand, Uber has faced several sexual harassment allegations internationally with cases reported in cities such as Los Angeles, Boston, London and Delhi. It has been a PR’s nightmare.
“The process of P endorsement can get quite tedious and it does cost a lot of money, but the safety of passengers cannot be ignored,” says Baljit Dhaliwal, an Uber driver in New Zealand. He obtained a P endorsement on his license when he started off and says that it helps drivers get a better knowledge about the rules governing New Zealand transport.
When Uber flouts New Zealand law, concerns over safety will be raised. In the midst of whether Uber drivers should obtain a P endorsement on their license or not, passenger safety comes under threat, especially when it’s widely known now that there are drivers in New Zealand who have opted to get the cheaper route to obtain a clearance.
Till the Uber case is solved, with increasing number of new Uber drivers on New Zealand roads, Bridges recommends passengers concerned about their safety to “report any concerns about their Uber drivers to the New Zealand Transport Agency or the police”.
Uber’s history
Uber’s beginning reads like the start of a fairytale; “On a snowy Paris evening in 2008...” the company website reads. But like every fairytale, Uber has met with its ugly dragon that is breathing fire down its neck. Unlike Grimm Brothers’ stories, Uber called upon this dragon by relaxing its policies, as seen in the case of New Zealand.
The company wants to be the byword for not only passenger delivery but also transporting goods such as purchases from a website from one place to another. And their interest goes beyond human drivers. Uber will be rolling out self-driving cars in Pittsburg in the United States in the coming weeks. But before the company goes further ahead on the road to make its brand ubiquitous, it needs to remove itself from the legal web.
Let’s hope, Uber does have its fairytale ending where everyone, the company, the drivers, the passengers and the government lives happily ever after.
The app that changed the way you ride has been in the news for flouting New Zealand laws. With the government’s warning that Uber might face potential ban across the country, is the ride-sharing company heading towards its doomsday by stubbornly refusing to abide by the law? We find out.
Uber might...
The app that changed the way you ride has been in the news for flouting New Zealand laws. With the government’s warning that Uber might face potential ban across the country, is the ride-sharing company heading towards its doomsday by stubbornly refusing to abide by the law? We find out.
Uber might be headed into trouble. For a company that is much-admired as one of the most successful start-ups in Silicon Valley, it has been plagued by several serious allegations.
In the United States, Uber faced two class-action lawsuits: O’Connor in California and Yucesoy in Massachusetts. Drivers were unhappy with being labelled and treated as ‘independent contractors', which meant that they did not have access to full-time employment benefits—a decision that has acted as an incentive to Uber’s growing business model.
However, Uber drivers criticised the policy saying that they should be entitled to full-time employee benefits such as reimbursement for expenses such as vehicle maintenance and gasoline. In April 2016, Uber issued a statement saying that they had settled the two cases, which meant that drivers would remain as independent contractors. As compensation, the company had to give $100 million to the 385,000 drivers across the two states.
But it was still too early for Uber to celebrate. In less than a month later, the company ran into legal trouble again; this time, it was a nation-wide lawsuit covering drivers from across the U.S., except California and Massachusetts. It’s the biggest legal threat the tech start-up faces.
And if this wasn’t enough for the Uber management to lose its good night sleep, problems popped up their ugly face in other countries. In India, the company faced sexual assault allegations that led to the introduction of the SOS button in the app to let riders immediately connect with local police in case of an emergency. Other countries such as South Korea are delaying their decisions on allowing Uber to operate. Cape Town in South Africa impounded 34 Uber vehicles early last year when drivers were caught breaking the law for operating the service without valid permits for metered taxis.
Coming back to New Zealand, Uber has locked horns with the government—not quite a smart move. In April this year, they updated their license regulation policy where it conveniently dropped its requirements for drivers to acquire an NZTA (New Zealand Transport Agency)-sanctioned P (passenger) endorsement on their license. When NZTA got the whiff of it, it issued notices to several Uber drivers.
It started off when Uber extended its operations in New Zealand to include Christchurch in March. Back then, they informed their drivers that they could do away with the P endorsement to start working with the company. The following month, the policy was rolled out in Auckland and Wellington.
What does the P endorsement mean? It’s an approval that you get from NZTA when you start driving a small passenger service vehicle such as taxis. P endorsement is approved for applicants, who have held a full New Zealand class 1 driver licence for at least two years and who provide a certificate showing that they have completed an approved P endorsement course, which can take up to eight weeks. The driver’s application also undergoes a ‘fit and proper person’ check by NZTA to ensure they haven’t committed criminal or transport-related offences. Under New Zealand law, drivers cannot operate a small passenger service unless they obtain the necessary certificates.
And that’s precisely where Uber went wrong in New Zealand when it introduced its security screening process in April.
Uber fails to follow New Zealand rules. Should it be allowed to play the game
Uber’s policy change meant that any person could become an Uber driver till they cleared the screening test set by the company. The process was completed in less than a week and would cost a mere $20 compared to the P endorsement required, which takes several months and can cost up to $2000.
Transport Minister Simon Bridges had said that Uber’s change in policy was illegal in New Zealand. He was recently quoted as saying by Stuff.co.nz that if Uber refused to follow the law, the government would have to take its drivers off the road. “The government has zero tolerance for illegal behaviour.”
As opposed to Bridges, ACT Party Leader David Seymour considers the government’s proposal to ban Uber in New Zealand as “absolutely wrong”.
“The government should be creating an environment where New Zealanders access the best technology in the world, not banning it.”
He added that the government should make the P endorsement process simpler and cheaper.
“$2000 is a ridiculous price...the Minister has admitted in the parliament that people who have injured and killed others while driving drunk can get one (P endorsement). The only reason the government should be involved is that it has access to sensitive information about criminal convictions and traffic infringements; its role should be limited to providing a check against data on these questions, which should take a matter of moments.”
When Indian Weekender brought up the issue again with Bridges, the Minister said, “The government supports innovation in this sector, but the basic safety requirements around the P endorsements are non-negotiable. We have made it clear that all players including Uber are expected to follow the law and for the New Zealand Transport Agency, as the regulator, to enforce the law. The government is working on significantly reducing the amount of time it takes to get a P endorsement as well as cutting the cost to get them by about a third.”
In response to the government’s statement, Uber’s Australasian policy director said, as quoted by RNZ, has said, “The last time I checked there was no problem with sharing a ride in your own vehicle and that’s exactly what people are doing... We think that it would be unacceptable if the government thought to punish people for providing safe and reliable transport.”
But is it really safe? Passengers have in the past notified Uber on several occasions about sexual advances and improper behaviour from the drivers. In March this year, a Wellington Uber driver had reportedly “hit on” a 15-year-old year. After dropping her off to her destination, he asked for the girl’s number and said that they should hang out after he finishes work. When the girl’s friend posted about the incident on Facebook, it caught the attention of the media and also generated replies from four women who had been at the receiving end. While apart from the Wellington case, no case has been publicly reported in New Zealand, Uber has faced several sexual harassment allegations internationally with cases reported in cities such as Los Angeles, Boston, London and Delhi. It has been a PR’s nightmare.
“The process of P endorsement can get quite tedious and it does cost a lot of money, but the safety of passengers cannot be ignored,” says Baljit Dhaliwal, an Uber driver in New Zealand. He obtained a P endorsement on his license when he started off and says that it helps drivers get a better knowledge about the rules governing New Zealand transport.
When Uber flouts New Zealand law, concerns over safety will be raised. In the midst of whether Uber drivers should obtain a P endorsement on their license or not, passenger safety comes under threat, especially when it’s widely known now that there are drivers in New Zealand who have opted to get the cheaper route to obtain a clearance.
Till the Uber case is solved, with increasing number of new Uber drivers on New Zealand roads, Bridges recommends passengers concerned about their safety to “report any concerns about their Uber drivers to the New Zealand Transport Agency or the police”.
Uber’s history
Uber’s beginning reads like the start of a fairytale; “On a snowy Paris evening in 2008...” the company website reads. But like every fairytale, Uber has met with its ugly dragon that is breathing fire down its neck. Unlike Grimm Brothers’ stories, Uber called upon this dragon by relaxing its policies, as seen in the case of New Zealand.
The company wants to be the byword for not only passenger delivery but also transporting goods such as purchases from a website from one place to another. And their interest goes beyond human drivers. Uber will be rolling out self-driving cars in Pittsburg in the United States in the coming weeks. But before the company goes further ahead on the road to make its brand ubiquitous, it needs to remove itself from the legal web.
Let’s hope, Uber does have its fairytale ending where everyone, the company, the drivers, the passengers and the government lives happily ever after.
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