Uber business model; 1. It is easier to say sorry than to ask for permission. 2. It is easier to steal technology and drivers than to develop new technology and advertise train and recruit your own drivers. 3. It is easier to raise prices once you destroy all competition. 4.If you use words like technology and platform you do not have to comply with minimum wage laws and pensions. 5. Our greatest innovation is fooling the world that an employee is no longer an employee.
Ubers model is scary. Classifying employees as independent contractors is just a race to the bottom. AOC said the other day we are taking whatever little bit we can get while the country is at our most prosperous time. Record profits across the economy, yet the average person is getting less and less. Uber is the perfect example of destroying workers rights and pay.
No different to other company doing the same thing so the onus is on the person to pay for everything like I worked for a motorcycle courier company in Sydney, Where you have to pay for your own super then insurance so working your own hours sounds good until you workout you need 1-2 days just to cover cost the rest for paycheck not including tax, Which means working part time is a waste of time to earn extra money and left because you are also limited in time due to the business hours so short time to make as much as you can before the 6pm close. And other industry is moving from award wages to flat rate which is bad for shifts workers and working weekends /public holidays getting the same money as someone working Mon -Fri dayshift hourly rate the real kicker is the company charges more but the workers gets SFA.
@hero108Zero If Uber is such a blessing why would they steal drivers and technology from other companies. It was stealing drivers by hacking rivals computers. It is really stupid to think that only way to protect consumer and employees rights is by depriving other people those same rights.
You forget that once uber gets rich, it'll just hire lobbyists so that politicians can create laws to hurt small companies that want to be the next uber.
Elijah Schnake so do drivers and pax’s. As independent contractors I do not give a damn about anyone but myself. Now that I no longer drive, I love taking cheap rides.
You missed a play. The bit where the entire community sits on its hands while the government bends yet again to corporate interests. A necessary play in the game of democratic deconstruction. Well done us!
Such a valuable service Four Corners is. Having an investigative journalism apparatus like them is such an asset to society. Great reporting. That English PR woman is terrifying, the painted on smile creeps me right out.
I agree. Four Corners is a wonderful program, however in every case where corruption, illegal activity, scandals etc are reported and identified there is ( in most cases) no accountability. So while one wants to stay informed, there is the other side of the coin watching these shows /staying informed & being aware of criminals exploiting people and or businesses without punishment. Therefore see my self as an up to date bystander. There really is truth in the “ignorance is bliss” saying.
Something that should be added to this story is in the US fuel prices were skyrocketing around the same time Uber was building its market with independent drivers. Offering a seat in ones vehicle to a stranger in exchange for cash was a quick way to afford higher fuel costs. Quick earnings also helped people who couldn’t afford their vehicles in the wake of the subprime meltdown continue to make good on their loans.
I remember in days before Uber and Lyft, the local taxi services usually had a monopoly. Drivers had to be licensed through one of them, dispatchers were rude and sometimes taxi would not even come certain neighborhoods. You might have wait 30 to 45 minutes on average if taxi showed up at all.
I took taxis in America maybe 2 times in 20 years; at it was always a last resort. Last time to America I took uber 10 times in 7 days. It is just so much better than the taxis.
Yes, but how much do Uber pay their drivers for all the work they do? Would you work for the same rates for such long hours? Cheap labour may profit some for a short term but in the end its leads to national uprisings. I would rather pay my local taxi company, or black cab to drive as I know the drivers get a decent rate to look after their family and children. The large corporations have fooled people for too long and employed too many naive young people and burnt them out to build their empire, whilst these same young people could make up a thriving and innovative middle class and fill in the vacuum that is being made in the working community because of these companies. I never have used Uber and never will unless it is life and death and there is no-one else to use. As the Bible states: "Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth." The very fraud that is mentioned and explained in this documentary the God of heaven logged in His Bible years ago, and He will avenge the poor for the evil that has been committed against them. To cut a long story short, too much money is being paid to pen-pushers and less to those who do the real hard physical work in this world.
J you are a completely are wrong. Man oh man do I want to meet you in person and change your way of thinking, if you catch my drift. I guess you think taxi cab and Uber drivers are making out like bandits. WRONG.
Great story, however, I will continue to use Uber as the biggest benefit for me is to know what my fare is before I board; the same cannot be said with taxis. Taxi drivers have refused to accept me as a customer because the journey was too short, the trip was too far out of the CBD on a Friday and Saturday night (where a lot of their customers are), or I needed to wait over an hour for the taxi to come. The taxi industry in Australia didn't innovate, and driver's weren't held accountable for their behaviour. Thank goodness for Uber.
Agreed. Not only that, but as a millennial, I can resonate with and wish to support those who wish to make money on their free time without making it a full time job. Uber helps lots of people who might be unemployed, disabled, or otherwise having a hard time making ends meet with their day job. That being said, additionally, as a customer it also is enticing to me that Uber offers a lots of promotions for making rides even cheaper than they already are. For example I get promos via email all the time from them for discounts or even completely free rides, and right now I have four 5$ credits on my account that will take 5$ off my next four rides (more than 75% for my average ride). Doubt any taxi company does that.
I drove for Uber when they were relatively new. The general feedback from riders was that the drivers were better and more approachable than taxi drivers. The free water and lollies were rarely wanted. The hourly rate was not too bad and it was a fun experience. The longer i stayed with them, the lower the money got. I had enough when i was working 6-8 hour days for $10/hr. Unlike a regular job the whole thing was backwards. Now the quality of drivers is low and they don't seem to care. Also uber eats service is average at best. Uber is really scraping the bottom of the barrel for a dollar rather than improving quality over time.
yet uber is still allowed to exist while pressure is put on Huawei for less infringement. Hard to say if anyone is actually doing anything meaningful in the end.
@@noirto2 i suppose because govt is afraid that the user data may be used for chinese govt intelligence/surveilance use. Not saying that greedy ubet wont sell their data to some shady groups though 😄
Not only user data. You're only guessing. The video explained what they are collecting, but you didn't listen. Uber is paying the drivers in US $50/month to install a device with camera and cellular data connection, which is transmitting live picture to Uber during each ride. What does that tell you?
Andrew Kerr extremely well stated!! These dinosaurs (aka the Taxi mafia), a monopoly with their shoddy service, that was downright extortion, went unchallenged for a very long time. Thanks to Uber, the customer now has a choice, just like in any other industry and the customer can *VOTE WITH THEIR DOLLARS* if they are not provided good service, like any business!! But, of course, it is natural that these crooks will not let go of their stranglehold without a fight!! But they will inevitably lose. The public will not stand for it! As a part time Uber driver myself, it has helped me, and millions like me, achieve their dreams. Yes, it should be obvious that you won't become a multimillionaire doing this (rollseyes). However, even someone with the IQ of a doorknob will know that, that is not its purpose! In my case, it gave me the flexibility to work on my own schedule while making decent money, helping better myself by putting me through my flight training and paying the bills!
I don't understand why consumers are complaining about new competition. New competition= lower prices and how services may be provided. If you can't compete either adapt to the new market or die out.
Yeah taxis are arseholes too but two wrongs don't make a right. Uber is still a very sketchy company. Uber is an impovement from a consumers perspective but you've gotta look beyond that. Don't just look at what you're getting from a demand side, look at the entire business from a supply side.
@@bw4500 As a consumer I don't care. Do they offer a cheaper more reliable service than the Taxi Industry............Yes so why should I care about the rest of their business?
@@Ed-se6by that's probably because theres 90% of those drivers trying to Uber full time. Floods the market with available drivers. Then everyone gets paid less.
Zissou Moonshot Uber does Police background checks and the app allows you to flag a driver. Uber will ten greyball you and the driver so you are never matched again. It will also investigate the complaint and remove the driver.
Zissou Moonshot I had a friend who is an ex-con. Went to prison for armed robbery and right out of jail (4 months) became a taxi driver. Granted he was sober now and getting his life back together but he would’ve failed the background check with Uber. I think I like my chances with rideshare drivers better. They go through two different background checks every year. Plus vehicle inspections. I had too many shady cabdrivers over the years. Picking me up an old crappy, smoking and rattling Crown Vics, Oh and they charge too much and they’re rude and most of their cars smell like shit.
Pathetic consumerism makes us love Uber. It changed nothing actually, instead cheated, mooched and disenfranchised millions of cab drivers across the world. They were recently kicked out of Spain, because of the companies failure to maintain minimum wages [a legal mandate] for spanish cab drivers. Idiots like you are always crying for pennies while failing to see and understand the mass exploitation that happens... So much for the bullshit of 'Shared Economy'
Uber can be described in one word: free market capitalism. Uber took a risk and it paid it off, how long have the taxi industry had a monopoly on this industry? The answer is simple, they never had any competition. I have travelled around most of the world and most taxis i have taken have been expensive, slow and driver usually stinks of BO or cigarettes and almost makes little to no attempt to take quicker routes. Uber on the hand, is quick, convenient, slightly cheaper and the drivers know what they are doing, they always take quicker routes and make sure the customer has a pleasant experience. For example a taxi driver will usually expect me to tip him, even though the price i'm paying is already ridiculously inflated on the other hand Uber drivers rely on the feedback of the customer to receive an honest rating. This system indices the driver to provide better customer service and experience, as they will receive a better rating. This rating system decides which driver gets the first call for pickup within that specific areas. I could ramble on forever about Uber vs taxi, however all i'm gonna say is Uber reinvented the way people travel and added competition. If you wanna compete in the market, either adapt or die out and honestly the consumer cares most about price and convenience, so if taxis wanna compete adapt.
So there are taxi drivers that feel threatened by Uber's success... Instead of self-reflection involving competitive pricing, better service, getting with the times, et cetera, they march to the streets demanding them to be outlawed.
Mdriver1981, that's the evil, ugly head of socialism and communism rearing its head. They are obviously a communist mafia. They dare not try this kind of BS in the US. But in commie shitholes like Australia, the UK and most of Europe, of course they were able to make big disruptions. But even then, they LOST and Uber had the last laugh!!
Your comment is pretty bloddy ignorant, Im not a taxi driver and I personally HATE taxis, but i feel for them. Most of the taxi drivers arent owneres and 50% of their earnings go to the cab owner. They have little or no power to determine the prices and they are legislated to use a meter otherwise they can be banned. Uber is not a solution, Yes its handy and Yes i use it every now and then but its pure exploitation.
@@Steve211Ucdhihifvshi ok, so maybe the cabbies and everyone that are angry should direct their anger towards the cab companies? Or find a different line of work? I personally don't work for companies that do not treat me the way I want to be treated. The problem with people like you is that you see pretty much all work as exploitative.
@@Steve211Ucdhihifvshi how is it ignorant, just pointing out that protesting in a way that causes trouble for other people isn't gonna prove anything, just means people won't like you. If they don't feel like they don't earn enough, get another job, pretty sure uber take less than 30% of the earnings. Taxis are scams the prices are inflated and drivers are rude and always take the worst route. The amount of times a taxi driver has told me "sorry the credit card machine is broken, gotta pay cash" or the amount of times the meter "mysteriously" doesn't work is bullshit. Uber is the way to go
To the cabbies that look after the community through good or bad, vulnerable passengers, school jobs, disability, aged care, veterans, they are our concern, Uber don’t give a shit, they don’t play by rules and they don’t pay what taxi,s do, yet they throw us all under the bus, who will take care of the vulnerable when we can’t survive! No care no respect-GREED
Your totally confused on the topic ronan, ill-informed on the matter and not addressing the certain aspects. Taxi's and limo services were already at the very corrupt bottom before they started. Uber has created globally millions of drivers (workers) the ability to earn a living which didn't exist and you call that a race to the bottom? Makes me wonder how much your able to understand what has occurred and why.
I was the 109th uber driver in Brisbane... I used to be 'picked' by uber staff for rides... i.e. drive 10mins to find it's the QLD manager Sam again... I was a comedian so I'd make them laugh.. I remember them having ipads they could use to mess with drivers they didn't like i.e. I was given a 'priority driver' status which meant I got rides over 'ethnic' drivers... one of the staff told me when they were drunk on the way home... said I was 'the best' and we all 'choose you' so we keep you busy so you like uber... Wow.. mind was blown, I regularly catchup with Indian, Afghani, Sudanese, Sri Lankan, Chinese, European drivers for coffee and none of them were happy about this 'racial discriminatory' preference I was given... It was pretty uncomfortable... I also saw how they messed with the traffic officers trying to book us... that was pretty funny, if one was near me, suddenly their app would show like 30 cars all on top of each other so they couldn't tell which car I was... If they liked you, you found out tonnes of dodgy shit.... RE Uber Eats it's the worst thing to happen to restaurants in the history of the industry full stop... The Uber General Manager is so full of shit saying they're bringing a new customer... they know their service eroded the amount ppl go out to eat, they have the data;)
There are so many Uber drivers around the world because they enjoy the side job. This is pure jealousy of the Uber concept--convenient and hassle free.
Yes, finding loop holes and saving money by classifying your employees as 'contractors' and exploiting the power imbalance. Regulators were caught asleep behind the wheel. At least there are some black lash with the whole gig economy and once regulation and minimum standard are introduced, Uber will be far less profitable to the investors hence the rush to IPO.
It's never about making actual profit for the fund manager investors. You burn cash to establish market dominance, launch IPO with sky-high pricing based on graphs showing infinite double digit future growth, bail with all the money in the world before the house of card tumbles from unsustainable growth, dodgy accounting and regulatory clampdowns.
Aaaaand, we have a real life example with Lyft - rose by 10% on opening trade yet by day two, 4% below IPO price. The angel investor already left with their pound of flesh and they even waited till end of March so selling on 1st April (start of new quarter) doesn't look bad on the ledger. ;-) Now there's all the talk of just how profitable Lyft really is...after the horse have bolted. THAT is how you bail with buckets of money on a company that doesn't turn a profit.
Uber smashed the taxi industry in Australia mainly because the drivers were not helpful, unprofessional, refused short trips, their fleet was old and blunt and quite many unroadworthy and the trips expensive. just to name a few... At least now the taxi industry is getting better and I'm glad for this.
Uber and the other gig apps have given the common person the ability to create their own incentives and push their own life forward. I commend Uber for taking this aggressive stance.
All this displayed to me is what lengths Uber will go to continuously be at the forefront of innovation and it's competition. That's a good thing for you and me. And if you are part of the competition, rise up to the challenge or shuffle out. Improving your business or module benefits everyone. No one has to be part of Uber's success or story, there is no gun to your head. They are a business not a charity. And this is a business that has earned its place as a household name.
Developing spyware to steal information about a rival from autonomous driving technology at google, to drivers working for rivals like GoCatch. Capitalism 101 - improving a business module only benefits everyone if competition exists. But i also do not see any success story at all in a capitalist country where the hell are the profits. A startup like GoCatch spent time and money to recruit and vet the drivers etc only for a software engineer from Uber to steal the results for their hard work. In terms of been at the forefront of driverless technology Uber is not considered to be in the top 20 best available technologies that is why they were stealing technology from Waymo. But the Uber story relies on suckers like you, they want you to believe that they are a technology company but Uber is simply a company based upon redefining who an employee is. Its earnings are based upon drivers making less than the minimum wage, the lack of health insurance, holiday pay etc.
uber is used by taxi drivers in Ireland. you have to be licensed to transport other people for purposes of commerce as normal insurance won't cover you in the event of an accident.
I am now working as an overhire thru a union. I am an employee to whatever company I am working for. They pay me up $92 per hour plus enormous benefits and I can turn down any gig I want. I get paid for 5 hours even if they only use me for one or two hours which happens fairly frequently. Gee that defeats the only benefit Uber has for drivers, flexibility, and I get paid 5-6 times as much money with no liability and no overhead other than clothes and a few hand tools.
Magsec5 wtf is liberal corruption! Seriously. Corruption is corruption. And those who corrupt ought to got to jail. If you’ve got claims to make, back them up with data or evidence. Don’t toss out lazy accusations. Read, get some evidence. Kinda like these ABC journalists right mate?
Why should it cost hundreds of thousands to buy a licence just to drive a taxi? I know licence holders who rented their licences to drivers. The government loved taxing the a arse out of the taxi industry and people who could afford the licences loved the monopoly they had now they both are crying because someone foxed them. The taxi licence holders were investors they shouldn't get a cent as because with all investments there is a risk.
pheenix Rivera because taxis paid the Australian government $ Billions of dollars in licence fees, to operate in Australia legally. In Queensland alone you times 3500 plates by $250,000
I'm all for Uber if they are aggressive, push the boundaries and leverage technology. BUT, not at the expensive of illegal activity the kills the competition (meaning other ride sharing platforms), or completely invading my privacy to monitor anything else on my phone not related to the apps.
There is this idiotic system where a taxi plate is worth $300,000. So if you paying a taxi fare you are paying the interest on a $300,000 loan. Its a recluse model designed to keep people in debt.
I wouldn't say we're going into a simulation world. But compared to grimy taxis with cage bars between you and drivers. Uber and Lyfr are like Cinderella's Pumpkin carrier.
Do drivers know of your intentions?? If not do you suggest it to them? If so how do they react? If you dont and the driver starts talking do you then keep composure untill the end of the ride to give them a poor rating or do you let the driver know once he starts conversing.... Im just a curious uber driver that's all.
Well what if your driver was a really hot chick with a really sharp sense of humor and who had big beautiful boobs. Maybe had a cool hobby like playing guitar and shared your political views. What about then?? Would you want your driver not to be all chatty?
I can find one good thing about Uber.... 1. My ride does not start at 50 danish crowns, and it does not cost 250 danish crowns to drive around 2 kilometers.
Cheaper? Only due to Uber being able to evade paying the minimum wage to the drivers. So you think its ok that people are being paid less than the minimum wage AND have no holidays or superannuation because people are now getting cheaper transport? Public transport is cheap, having someone drive you in a private vehicle is not something that should be cheap. What kind of a selfish prick is happy that someone has to live in poverty as long as you get a cheap ride everywhere. AMazing how saving a few dollars is enough to make people ignore the erosion of worker's rights and probably the first massive step backwards our country has allowed with respect to equitable pay. At least give the driver a tip! (unless his driving was shithouse then rate 1 star because there are far too many bad uber drivers out there).
@@DasGigPig Wow, you're a real POS, aren't you? You pretend to care about working class people yet argue that you should give drivers a 1 star. You know that if a drivers average is below 4.6 they risk termination? I dont complain to a manager when a waiter messes up my meal. I wouldn't be so egocentric as to risk someone's livelihood on my complaint. I would just leave a lower tip because I'm not a monster. 1 star lol, what a cosmopolitan thing to say. Dean "may I speak to your manager" Pearson
@@dzmitrykakaruk6365 I understand what you are saying and I am well aware of similarities between taxi drivers and Uber drivers. It is all up to the driverin regards to when the choose to work and for how long. They are both constrained however by the rate at which their services are charged out to the customer. The rate (Uber drivers in Sydney get paid a base rate of $1.45/km and $0.4/minute) is what impacts a driver's earnings above all else. You can do 12 hours a day seven days a week and you will have days that are better than others but at that rate you are still going to find yourself with little to show for it after you pay for fuel, pay 10% GST, tax, car maintenance you can pay your rent and feed yourself, maybe pay your phone and internet bills. You certainly wont have enough to have 4 weeks holiday like every other full time employee and as for superannuation - yeah good luck with that one. Saying it's all up to the drivers because they are free to earn as much as they like, that sounds like the kind of spin that Uber carrys on with whenever they are asked about their relationship with their oh so valuable driver partners.
How did Uber convinced the regulators to change the law and allow it to operate legally? Since its original operations were illegal, it would be probably reasonably assume that they bribed the lawmakers (politicians).
Of course they did. And did that in every country they run, a new transport law to slow them to run "legally" along with an already existing transportation law. And this is not fair competition, to flood the market with cars without cap? It's like letting one brand of supermarket building one store in the city, and letting another brand supermarket build 100, that's rekt
After having to put up with those unreliable, combative arsehole Sydney taxi drivers and their monopoly, I think Uber is wonderful. Looks like the free market in action to me!
It's not free market, that's how you see it as. As long as there is no cap for te cars driving in those ridesharing platforms, there is no free market. It's like letting only one supermarket brand being built in a city, and another brand allowed to build 100. Where is the competition at? Free market? Not to mention the cheap prices for the fares, where drivers cry about, and clients smiles they're faces. Of course you don't care as a client, you just click and ride Coz it's cheap.
Yeah this is liberal propaganda against red-blooded American companies like Uber...thanks to Trump Republicans for cutting all the red-tape put up by the socialist corporate Democrats colluding with Russia..
Yet another example of how the free market provides WAY better service at a better price. Government makes almost everything more inefficient and expensive, taking money from successful productive business and injecting it into industries that the market does not want or just being outright wasteful. Decentralization and localization of power and resources back into the communities where they belong is key. People know better which services they find meaningful and the concept of being forced to pay for "services" you don't want/and or are overpriced(taxation) is archaic and immoral, there are better ways for humans to organize and work toward mutually beneficial goals while still achieving order and protection of individual rights/natural law, but it starts in the mind and removing the belief in authority of men
lol yes bridges and hospitals and public health are all profitable, the prison system is for profit also which is one of the reasons is packed full of non violent "offenders" like drug users. The "Healthcare" system is also for profit, and has is a drug pushing arm of the pharmaceutical cartel, healthcare should be over 95% just eating right, organic quality food, breathing clean air, drinking clean water, exercise and so on, there is no mention of these methods from most doctors these industries have been infiltrated and are absolutely for profit and not for the best interest of the patient. @@Commentator541
Used to be $200 a rider got for a cleaning fee. Now, we only get $150 from the customer who made the mess..UBER now takes $50 out of the clean fee as profit.
Do y’all not have Lyft? I actually prefer Lyft because they’re cheaper. I’ve got the system down. Lyft downtown (Nashville, TN) and taxi home because prices go way up during “peak hours”. We have several taxi companies competing with both Uber and Lyft, and I think it’s great.
watch carefully how Anderson suppresses lips slightly a few times when she is asked about software, she knows everything, also she responded to quickly
Uber is about to hit the buffers in the UK. Judges have dismissed Uber’s appeal against a landmark employment tribunal ruling in October 2016 that its drivers should be classed as workers with access to the minimum wage and paid holidays. The case now goes to the Supreme Court.
I can understand the opposition especially by Taxi Owner/Drivers where a person has to study and pass exams for a license, pay sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars for it, buy a suitable vehicle, work it almost 24/7 to repay debts and make a living...and then comes along a system where almost 'anything goes' and costs peanuts to get onboard. For new immigrants with little English and who don't have the resources to buy a Taxi but are prepared to rent one and then work 12 plus hours a day 6 or 7 days a week and every week it is a way of starting to 'climb the ladder', learn better English on the job and perhaps the option of buying a rig of his/her own.
I can understand also the innovation and "competition" of a "free market". Until you see cities flooded with cars running for this innovation, meaning no cap cars, resulting in even more crowded and congested roads in the cities. No cap cars defies the ideea of a free market, it's like letting one supermarket brand building to be built, and another 100 supermarkets of a diffrent brand. That's rekt. You want free competition top the existing taxes in the city with the same amount of ridesharing cars. But there is another back hole thing in this innovation, no one has acces to they're servers, and because it's an app thing, with the license for a city you can take orders in a diffrent city, and that's illegal. But as is aid above because none is having acces to they're servers, this practice happens a lot.
I have had some bad experiences with taxi companies/drivers. But overall I still prefer taxi's for a number of reasons. Including most of them work full time and are interested in getting you to your destination, give feedback, will take alternate route, will make multiple stops if needed, as they see you as a customer and want a tip,so they work for it Uber drivers just expect a tip (becuase they got you there), they live off GPS and don't even engage even at a stop light. Many work part time and are clueless. The number one reason I avoid Uber and Lyft, is now you see a lot of them making double income filming passengers without their permission, and posting it to RUclips without their permission. Here is where I have a major issue with that, imagine if you are with a bunch of coworkers, friend you just met at school, etc. and one of them acts like a jerk (you might not able to stop their actions), but now you will be on the internet and may have done nothing wrong. I also never order from Restaurants that don't offer delivery and only rely on third party delivery services. I will wait longer and pay more to get delivery from a restaurant that offers it directly to customers.
I hate those illegal scooters on sidewalks. Dangerous! San Francisco banned Segways on our sidewalks but allows these! Politicians are hypocrites. Need to pay homeless to pee on their bikes. I’d invest in a rideshare company that wants to put Uber out of business using the same unfair business practices that they used. Then when they try to sue for it they will lose under the principle of unclean hands.
Shame on Australian politicians for allowing this parasitic, ruthless organisation dictate to them. Must have been a lot of underhand clandestine activity going on. Nothing but support to the Australian Taxi drivers.
Uber and lyft came up with an awesome concept and now there taking advantage across the board you would think someone in power would step up and put a stop to what there doing
Ask the regulator to move with technology not sit on books of law. As I customer I should have the right to use whatever I want. The taxi licencing was so corrupt. Licence was used as an investment and a property. Where was the service aspect in such a licencing law.
So what have we learned? To become king, you condone murder. You encourage murder and assemble a great coterie of murderers and you commit murder. When you become king you denounce and purge all those evil murderers and then outlaw murder. You talk about all the mistakes and evil you've done. It is so regrettable and you see the error of your ways. Maybe you were even used by bad actors who's actions you weren't aware of. You are redeemed AND you rule the land! Priceless!
This video is basically about how Taxi unions tried taking down a new competitor in the market, beating them at their own game. This made the unions upset and so they lobbied the governments to stop them and got outsmarted multiple times...
I love how in the part where they talk about how Australia is on the shortlist for experimenting with sky taxis, the guy pronounces Melbourne and Sydney so deliberately the Australian way instead of how it normally sounds in an American accent
I would prefer uber evryday over taxi mafia. Particularly, when traveling overseas, I used to get ripped by taxi and pay 3x to 5x of actual cost. Now taking uber or applications like grab, I pay much less for a decent service.
In bangalore there is already Uber air!! For 4000₹ or 55$ you can have a 20min chopper ride to anywhere in bangalore. It decreases 3hrs of drive to 20mins.
I knew from 2012, that Uber should not be allowed to exist. That's when they set up in Australia illegally. We had a very well run Taxi & Hire Car Industry. Taxis & Hire Cars are required by State Laws to obtain a Licence. Now whilst are Taxis & Hire Cars were never 100% perfect. They were still pretty good & importantly this industry was heavily regulated, so if problems arise at least they had a chance to be fixed. Uber on the other hand, did not apply for Licences, they did not even ask permission, they just started operating. What they did have is an expensive Legal Team, to dance around the Laws. This is cheap really, when you come into a market where Taxis are worth at least 500,000, & also Taxis have 4 different Insurances costing some owners $10,000 or more per Year. This gives Taxis Insurance for everything & every possible situation. Taxis are covered for a Billion Dollars or more if required. So Uber comes in, Drivers can start with a $30,000 Car, & even if they have the correct Insurance Policy (Business as opposed to the cheaper Private), its only $1,000. Now the key thing is Taxis & Hire Cars, are heavily regulated, whilst Uber, Lyft Didi; are not regulated at all. So do you think these guys are going to play by the Rules? I can proudly say, I've never caught an Uber, or any RideShare. I did this because, its my way of fighting something that should never existed. Did you know that, if I just started picking up passengers in my Car, prior to Uber, I'd be arrested. Government's have let is down, by being bullied & tricked by Companies like Uber. Also every person who drives for Uber has let everyone down by driving for Uber, & only got yourselves to blame for being ripped off by Uber. All the good Uber Drivers could of become Taxi Drivers or Hire Car/Limousine Drivers, at anytime. So why didn't you! Also anyone who has ever caught an Uber, has let everyone down. Why didn't you just use a normal Taxi. The proof is here now that Taxis fairs are pretty much the same. If you caught an Uber, because you saved $1.20 or something like that, that is pathetic. Anyway we can still stop Uber, & all the other RideShares. Governments should make them illegal. People should stop driving for them & People should stop riding with them. The good drivers can go to the Taxi, or Hire Car Industry. Passengers can also use Taxis & Hire Cars. I re-iterate the Government should make Rideshare, or anything similar illegal, like it was originally. Also make the Penalties for Driving for Uber & other RideShare very steep. This should include Prison Time. Also have a Penalty for Passengers as well. We need desperately to curb this scourge from Australia & the World.
Cabbies should be suing the Government to remove plate fees and level the playing field that way. Then they can compete. After using both, Uber provides a better customer experience by far. I know when the driver is arriving. I can rate them. If I have any issues, it's dealt with immeditately. When cabbies can provide the same, I'll be happy to use them. Aussie cab Industry needed a big shakeup. Without Uber challenging them, nothing would've changed.
......or is it the money saved that appeals to you. Uber can't operate profitability at the rates they charge. They churn through the slave wage drivers...A big cause of the problem for taxi industry was investors buying plates then not really working their cabs nor contracting out their cabs to other willing drivers cos they didn't want others driving their cars. Investors were content to let plates accrue value and sit back..This problem was mainly on fringe areas of city.....Clearly a case of inadequate regulations not addressing community needs ,,we also permit wealthy non residents to buy Australian real estates and there ain't regulations against the wealthy buying multiple properties and having them vacant..Other countries have community benefit oriented regulations...In Australia the politicians feather their own nests.
Taxi drivers were being too dishonest. Often i have had to deal with drivers who refused to use meters and gave a fixed price on locations. When you arrived some places earlier than expected ... you get black mailed into paying double and sometimes even triple that price. And if you take into account the rate vs the meter price, 6-7 times the cost. If they had been honest to begin with and charged a fair price, or even just used the meter to price their passengers, i think it would have been hard for these kind of rides to take off. I also blame the gov for all of these but that isn't new.
That’s what happened in Sth Africa where taxis were so corrupted or compromised you would get mugged, raped, murdered or kidnapped. They were so unsafe the unusable. Uber with its cashless payment, ride tracking, identity and police background checks gave people, especially women, a system they could safely use. Now pretty much the only Taxi drivers in Sth Africa are those with a criminal record. I’ve used uber in Moscow, Trinidad and Sth Africa and I love it. Governments and regulators corrupted by the taxi industry are doing you no favours. Don’t fall for this malarchy.
I worked for uber for a time, then became loyal to Lyft as the company is much more ethical as opposed to Uber as they tried to continually block Lyft. I wish Lyft could start in Australia
Uber is buying the biggest ride-hailing app in the Middle East. In the biggest tech deal the region has ever seen, Uber is paying $3.1 billion for Careem with a mixture of cash and securities that will convert into Uber shares when the company goes public. Careem, based in Dubai, was founded in 2012 and has since become the regional market leader with 30 million users across 90 cities in the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan. It was valued at more than $2 billion in a funding round in October
Firstly, UBER is not forcing anyone, anyparty. Everyone is independent, anyone chose willingly, consciously, .etc. so, why fuss after joining UBER in your own conscious mind rather than start complaining.. regardless of what UBER gains or loss. Focus your own business. Etc. Forget UBER.. Looks like feeling a sense of extra profit that could generate, these thoughts led you join. Now if it didn't met your expectations and you don't feel safe just logout of it and focus on your initial work rather than go out and complain, cry out..like being blackmailed you, daylight robbed you.. I believe your government didn't make mandatory to join UBER. Right? It was individual choice.. So, if it's not good for you just quit and leave UBER out of your life context forever..let UBER do what it does. Do not poke! That's what I see in this content of information shown. Everyone has right to do business, earn, be creative, until legal. uBER is one as such. So if one don't like it FORGET IT, but don't go back stabbing someone's efforts if it didn't worked for you. As simple as this.
UBER must've given a lot of dollars to the political parties in Australia to get away with some of the tricks they pulled! What I can't understand is a taxi can't even go out without being washed and vacuumed and the UBER driver just turns up and starts driving. Do they get pulled up by road safety inspectors as taxi drivers do and get defective notices if the car isn't OK?
I mean ubers are usually pretty clean or else you can give them a bad review, taxi's can go around dirty af smelling like shit and customers have no recourse
Customers are brats. As a taxi driver I hated talking to most of them arrogant creeps. Contrary to the stereotype of the overly talkative taxi driver, it's the customers who talk to much and bother me in my 8 years on the jib. I particularly detest Sydney people. Out of towners were the best.
What uber is into is called surveilence capitalism or data is the new oil. however, cab business had got pretty corrupt. Uber mafia vs Taxi mafia take your pick.
Uber business model;
1. It is easier to say sorry than to ask for permission.
2. It is easier to steal technology and drivers than to develop new technology and advertise train and recruit your own drivers.
3. It is easier to raise prices once you destroy all competition.
4.If you use words like technology and platform you do not have to comply with minimum wage laws and pensions.
5. Our greatest innovation is fooling the world that an employee is no longer an employee.
It's easier to contract people then hire people as Wage/Pension/Fair Work Practices/OHAS does not apply to them!
uber is the embodiment of corporate America, cut throat profit margin and ignoring government regulation.
Ubers model is scary. Classifying employees as independent contractors is just a race to the bottom. AOC said the other day we are taking whatever little bit we can get while the country is at our most prosperous time. Record profits across the economy, yet the average person is getting less and less. Uber is the perfect example of destroying workers rights and pay.
No different to other company doing the same thing so the onus is on the person to pay for everything like I worked for a motorcycle courier company in Sydney, Where you have to pay for your own super then insurance so working your own hours sounds good until you workout you need 1-2 days just to cover cost the rest for paycheck not including tax, Which means working part time is a waste of time to earn extra money and left because you are also limited in time due to the business hours so short time to make as much as you can before the 6pm close.
And other industry is moving from award wages to flat rate which is bad for shifts workers and working weekends /public holidays getting the same money as someone working Mon -Fri dayshift hourly rate the real kicker is the company charges more but the workers gets SFA.
@hero108Zero If Uber is such a blessing why would they steal drivers and technology from other companies. It was stealing drivers by hacking rivals computers. It is really stupid to think that only way to protect consumer and employees rights is by depriving other people those same rights.
Uber play book of how to "outsmart" regulators.
Uber: *breaks law*
Regulator: Stop that.
Uber: No.
Regulator: *changes law*
THANKS FOR PLAYING.
You forget that once uber gets rich, it'll just hire lobbyists so that politicians can create laws to hurt small companies that want to be the next uber.
I’m waiting to watch the ABC investigation of how the motor industry corrupted parliament to repeal the red flag act.
Elijah Schnake so do drivers and pax’s. As independent contractors I do not give a damn about anyone but myself. Now that I no longer drive, I love taking cheap rides.
@@Epicure468 And not giving a dam is just what the devil loves about you. A great place to launch all manner of evils.
You missed a play. The bit where the entire community sits on its hands while the government bends yet again to corporate interests. A necessary play in the game of democratic deconstruction. Well done us!
Such a valuable service Four Corners is. Having an investigative journalism apparatus like them is such an asset to society. Great reporting.
That English PR woman is terrifying, the painted on smile creeps me right out.
Agreed. I've worked with blinkered idiots just like her. They spout - and believe - all the corporate guff but are unable to think for themselves.
The English PR woman is just a horrible PR person. She actually hurts their brand.
She is lying...how can I tell... her lips are moving
I agree. Four Corners is a wonderful program, however in every case where corruption, illegal activity, scandals etc are reported and identified there is ( in most cases) no accountability. So while one wants to stay informed, there is the other side of the coin watching these shows /staying informed & being aware of criminals exploiting people and or businesses without punishment. Therefore see my self as an up to date bystander.
There really is truth in the “ignorance is bliss” saying.
Something that should be added to this story is in the US fuel prices were skyrocketing around the same time Uber was building its market with independent drivers. Offering a seat in ones vehicle to a stranger in exchange for cash was a quick way to afford higher fuel costs.
Quick earnings also helped people who couldn’t afford their vehicles in the wake of the subprime meltdown continue to make good on their loans.
REPORTER : Do you acknowledge that Uber was breaking the law...
4 Seconds pregnant pause....
CEO: No we don't acknowledge that.
I picked up this abc 4 corners host of this documentary once working as an Uber driver😂😂😂
31:30 Don't fool yourself Mark Jensen, most restaurants weren't paying their in-house delivery staff a legal minimum wage.
Do you acknowledge that uber was breaking the law when operating in Australia?
*Pauses*
Nods in agreement... - "No"
HAHAHAHAH
You reckon it’s on purpose? 🤔 i didnt think of it like that but it’s a pretty cool perspective
time stamp
@@swoodc 11:37
Uber was not breaking the law. It matched up willing riders with willing drivers. That's all. Screw laws when they are stupid and retarded.
Chopper 98 I know ??? Right?? Gee you look really guilty lady
I remember in days before Uber and Lyft, the local taxi services usually had a monopoly. Drivers had to be licensed through one of them, dispatchers were rude and sometimes taxi would not even come certain neighborhoods. You might have wait 30 to 45 minutes on average if taxi showed up at all.
Lets be honest. Taxis had it way too good for too long
Agreed.. Charging people $2 per kilometer on top of a $5 flagfall is ridiculous..
I took taxis in America maybe 2 times in 20 years; at it was always a last resort. Last time to America I took uber 10 times in 7 days. It is just so much better than the taxis.
I Agree! I Hated Taxi's Overcharging Us And They Know We Had No Choice Especially On A Late Night Out
Yes, but how much do Uber pay their drivers for all the work they do? Would you work for the same rates for such long hours? Cheap labour may profit some for a short term but in the end its leads to national uprisings. I would rather pay my local taxi company, or black cab to drive as I know the drivers get a decent rate to look after their family and children. The large corporations have fooled people for too long and employed too many naive young people and burnt them out to build their empire, whilst these same young people could make up a thriving and innovative middle class and fill in the vacuum that is being made in the working community because of these companies. I never have used Uber and never will unless it is life and death and there is no-one else to use. As the Bible states: "Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth." The very fraud that is mentioned and explained in this documentary the God of heaven logged in His Bible years ago, and He will avenge the poor for the evil that has been committed against them. To cut a long story short, too much money is being paid to pen-pushers and less to those who do the real hard physical work in this world.
J you are a completely are wrong. Man oh man do I want to meet you in person and change your way of thinking, if you catch my drift. I guess you think taxi cab and Uber drivers are making out like bandits. WRONG.
Great story, however, I will continue to use Uber as the biggest benefit for me is to know what my fare is before I board; the same cannot be said with taxis. Taxi drivers have refused to accept me as a customer because the journey was too short, the trip was too far out of the CBD on a Friday and Saturday night (where a lot of their customers are), or I needed to wait over an hour for the taxi to come. The taxi industry in Australia didn't innovate, and driver's weren't held accountable for their behaviour. Thank goodness for Uber.
Agreed. Not only that, but as a millennial, I can resonate with and wish to support those who wish to make money on their free time without making it a full time job. Uber helps lots of people who might be unemployed, disabled, or otherwise having a hard time making ends meet with their day job. That being said, additionally, as a customer it also is enticing to me that Uber offers a lots of promotions for making rides even cheaper than they already are. For example I get promos via email all the time from them for discounts or even completely free rides, and right now I have four 5$ credits on my account that will take 5$ off my next four rides (more than 75% for my average ride). Doubt any taxi company does that.
I always had a gut feeling this company was shady. Now I'm finding out that my suspicion was way more accurate than I ever would have guessed.
I drove for Uber when they were relatively new. The general feedback from riders was that the drivers were better and more approachable than taxi drivers. The free water and lollies were rarely wanted.
The hourly rate was not too bad and it was a fun experience. The longer i stayed with them, the lower the money got. I had enough when i was working 6-8 hour days for $10/hr. Unlike a regular job the whole thing was backwards.
Now the quality of drivers is low and they don't seem to care. Also uber eats service is average at best. Uber is really scraping the bottom of the barrel for a dollar rather than improving quality over time.
All you are doing is tooting your horn.
Uber is a data harvesting company, not taxi like business. User data, that's the information that uber wants
yet uber is still allowed to exist while pressure is put on Huawei for less infringement. Hard to say if anyone is actually doing anything meaningful in the end.
@@noirto2 i suppose because govt is afraid that the user data may be used for chinese govt intelligence/surveilance use. Not saying that greedy ubet wont sell their data to some shady groups though 😄
Not only user data. You're only guessing. The video explained what they are collecting, but you didn't listen. Uber is paying the drivers in US $50/month to install a device with camera and cellular data connection, which is transmitting live picture to Uber during each ride. What does that tell you?
@@111chicane 84,85,86... 19... aka RTM
@@waltermessines5181 Route Traffic Management? I'm not sure what you meant?
lol the Regulations and Protectionism of the Taxi Industry crushed competition.
exactly!
Andrew Kerr extremely well stated!! These dinosaurs (aka the Taxi mafia), a monopoly with their shoddy service, that was downright extortion, went unchallenged for a very long time.
Thanks to Uber, the customer now has a choice, just like in any other industry and the customer can *VOTE WITH THEIR DOLLARS* if they are not provided good service, like any business!! But, of course, it is natural that these crooks will not let go of their stranglehold without a fight!! But they will inevitably lose. The public will not stand for it!
As a part time Uber driver myself, it has helped me, and millions like me, achieve their dreams. Yes, it should be obvious that you won't become a multimillionaire doing this (rollseyes). However, even someone with the IQ of a doorknob will know that, that is not its purpose! In my case, it gave me the flexibility to work on my own schedule while making decent money, helping better myself by putting me through my flight training and paying the bills!
I don't understand why consumers are complaining about new competition. New competition= lower prices and how services may be provided. If you can't compete either adapt to the new market or die out.
Yeah taxis are arseholes too but two wrongs don't make a right. Uber is still a very sketchy company. Uber is an impovement from a consumers perspective but you've gotta look beyond that. Don't just look at what you're getting from a demand side, look at the entire business from a supply side.
@@bw4500 As a consumer I don't care. Do they offer a cheaper more reliable service than the Taxi Industry............Yes so why should I care about the rest of their business?
Uber takes way more than 20 something percent. Its more like 52%.
Uber takes 50-60% here in Atlanta GA
@@Ed-se6by that's probably because theres 90% of those drivers trying to Uber full time. Floods the market with available drivers. Then everyone gets paid less.
I've also calculated about 60% as well. This is ridiculous.
Don’t make it a full time job ...
stupid driver uses uber. 60% is robbery
uber changed everything Taxis had overcharged us for long
yes and while I'm no fan of Uber this seems like a bitch fest by aussie media favoring greedy, whiny politicians
Zissou Moonshot Uber does Police background checks and the app allows you to flag a driver. Uber will ten greyball you and the driver so you are never matched again. It will also investigate the complaint and remove the driver.
Zissou Moonshot I had a friend who is an ex-con. Went to prison for armed robbery and right out of jail (4 months) became a taxi driver. Granted he was sober now and getting his life back together but he would’ve failed the background check with Uber. I think I like my chances with rideshare drivers better. They go through two different background checks every year. Plus vehicle inspections. I had too many shady cabdrivers over the years. Picking me up an old crappy, smoking and rattling Crown Vics, Oh and they charge too much and they’re rude and most of their cars smell like shit.
Pathetic consumerism makes us love Uber. It changed nothing actually, instead cheated, mooched and disenfranchised millions of cab drivers across the world. They were recently kicked out of Spain, because of the companies failure to maintain minimum wages [a legal mandate] for spanish cab drivers. Idiots like you are always crying for pennies while failing to see and understand the mass exploitation that happens... So much for the bullshit of 'Shared Economy'
poor you
Uber conversation: "Hey John how are you going?"
Taxi conversation: *driver speaks gently into headphones* "gala mala gapa bala hapala makala"
Uber can be described in one word: free market capitalism. Uber took a risk and it paid it off, how long have the taxi industry had a monopoly on this industry? The answer is simple, they never had any competition. I have travelled around most of the world and most taxis i have taken have been expensive, slow and driver usually stinks of BO or cigarettes and almost makes little to no attempt to take quicker routes. Uber on the hand, is quick, convenient, slightly cheaper and the drivers know what they are doing, they always take quicker routes and make sure the customer has a pleasant experience. For example a taxi driver will usually expect me to tip him, even though the price i'm paying is already ridiculously inflated on the other hand Uber drivers rely on the feedback of the customer to receive an honest rating. This system indices the driver to provide better customer service and experience, as they will receive a better rating. This rating system decides which driver gets the first call for pickup within that specific areas. I could ramble on forever about Uber vs taxi, however all i'm gonna say is Uber reinvented the way people travel and added competition. If you wanna compete in the market, either adapt or die out and honestly the consumer cares most about price and convenience, so if taxis wanna compete adapt.
exactly right
@@louisgordon8188 people always find something to complain about, even if it's a good thing
Its strange. After finishing this video I like Uber more than ever.
So there are taxi drivers that feel threatened by Uber's success... Instead of self-reflection involving competitive pricing, better service, getting with the times, et cetera, they march to the streets demanding them to be outlawed.
Mdriver1981, that's the evil, ugly head of socialism and communism rearing its head. They are obviously a communist mafia. They dare not try this kind of BS in the US. But in commie shitholes like Australia, the UK and most of Europe, of course they were able to make big disruptions. But even then, they LOST and Uber had the last laugh!!
hey lets go protest on the streets and cause a commotion for everyone in the city, i bet we have left a really positive image for the taxi industry!
Your comment is pretty bloddy ignorant, Im not a taxi driver and I personally HATE taxis, but i feel for them. Most of the taxi drivers arent owneres and 50% of their earnings go to the cab owner. They have little or no power to determine the prices and they are legislated to use a meter otherwise they can be banned.
Uber is not a solution, Yes its handy and Yes i use it every now and then but its pure exploitation.
@@Steve211Ucdhihifvshi ok, so maybe the cabbies and everyone that are angry should direct their anger towards the cab companies? Or find a different line of work? I personally don't work for companies that do not treat me the way I want to be treated. The problem with people like you is that you see pretty much all work as exploitative.
@@Steve211Ucdhihifvshi how is it ignorant, just pointing out that protesting in a way that causes trouble for other people isn't gonna prove anything, just means people won't like you. If they don't feel like they don't earn enough, get another job, pretty sure uber take less than 30% of the earnings. Taxis are scams the prices are inflated and drivers are rude and always take the worst route. The amount of times a taxi driver has told me "sorry the credit card machine is broken, gotta pay cash" or the amount of times the meter "mysteriously" doesn't work is bullshit. Uber is the way to go
33:40 Increase in revenue does not mean the increase in profit, clever statement!
its not clever, its very obvious
To the cabbies that look after the community through good or bad, vulnerable passengers, school jobs, disability, aged care, veterans, they are our concern, Uber don’t give a shit, they don’t play by rules and they don’t pay what taxi,s do, yet they throw us all under the bus, who will take care of the vulnerable when we can’t survive! No care no respect-GREED
Uber,the ultimate winner,in a race to the bottom
ronan kirwan they said the same about amz, but they are one of the worlds largest companies in under 25 years...
Your totally confused on the topic ronan, ill-informed on the matter and not addressing the certain aspects. Taxi's and limo services were already at the very corrupt bottom before they started. Uber has created globally millions of drivers (workers) the ability to earn a living which didn't exist and you call that a race to the bottom? Makes me wonder how much your able to understand what has occurred and why.
I was the 109th uber driver in Brisbane... I used to be 'picked' by uber staff for rides... i.e. drive 10mins to find it's the QLD manager Sam again... I was a comedian so I'd make them laugh.. I remember them having ipads they could use to mess with drivers they didn't like i.e. I was given a 'priority driver' status which meant I got rides over 'ethnic' drivers... one of the staff told me when they were drunk on the way home... said I was 'the best' and we all 'choose you' so we keep you busy so you like uber... Wow.. mind was blown, I regularly catchup with Indian, Afghani, Sudanese, Sri Lankan, Chinese, European drivers for coffee and none of them were happy about this 'racial discriminatory' preference I was given... It was pretty uncomfortable... I also saw how they messed with the traffic officers trying to book us... that was pretty funny, if one was near me, suddenly their app would show like 30 cars all on top of each other so they couldn't tell which car I was... If they liked you, you found out tonnes of dodgy shit.... RE Uber Eats it's the worst thing to happen to restaurants in the history of the industry full stop... The Uber General Manager is so full of shit saying they're bringing a new customer... they know their service eroded the amount ppl go out to eat, they have the data;)
....you've told us what I suspected .
There are so many Uber drivers around the world because they enjoy the side job. This is pure jealousy of the Uber concept--convenient and hassle free.
Yes, finding loop holes and saving money by classifying your employees as 'contractors' and exploiting the power imbalance. Regulators were caught asleep behind the wheel. At least there are some black lash with the whole gig economy and once regulation and minimum standard are introduced, Uber will be far less profitable to the investors hence the rush to IPO.
well uber isn't even making any money now.
It's never about making actual profit for the fund manager investors. You burn cash to establish market dominance, launch IPO with sky-high pricing based on graphs showing infinite double digit future growth, bail with all the money in the world before the house of card tumbles from unsustainable growth, dodgy accounting and regulatory clampdowns.
@SQW0 bail what what money ?
Aaaaand, we have a real life example with Lyft - rose by 10% on opening trade yet by day two, 4% below IPO price. The angel investor already left with their pound of flesh and they even waited till end of March so selling on 1st April (start of new quarter) doesn't look bad on the ledger. ;-) Now there's all the talk of just how profitable Lyft really is...after the horse have bolted.
THAT is how you bail with buckets of money on a company that doesn't turn a profit.
I will be standing there encouraging my law makers to not support ANY new regulations.
Uber smashed the taxi industry in Australia mainly because the drivers were not helpful, unprofessional, refused short trips, their fleet was old and blunt and quite many unroadworthy and the trips expensive. just to name a few...
At least now the taxi industry is getting better and I'm glad for this.
Its very clear its beaurocracy not democracy rich is getting richer poot is getting poorer
How is that? The Taxi has been screwing the consumer for decades, overpriced and is a bunch of punk drivers.
Uber and the other gig apps have given the common person the ability to create their own incentives and push their own life forward. I commend Uber for taking this aggressive stance.
All this displayed to me is what lengths Uber will go to continuously be at the forefront of innovation and it's competition. That's a good thing for you and me. And if you are part of the competition, rise up to the challenge or shuffle out. Improving your business or module benefits everyone. No one has to be part of Uber's success or story, there is no gun to your head. They are a business not a charity. And this is a business that has earned its place as a household name.
Developing spyware to steal information about a rival from autonomous driving technology at google, to drivers working for rivals like GoCatch. Capitalism 101 - improving a business module only benefits everyone if competition exists. But i also do not see any success story at all in a capitalist country where the hell are the profits.
A startup like GoCatch spent time and money to recruit and vet the drivers etc only for a software engineer from Uber to steal the results for their hard work. In terms of been at the forefront of driverless technology Uber is not considered to be in the top 20 best available technologies that is why they were stealing technology from Waymo.
But the Uber story relies on suckers like you, they want you to believe that they are a technology company but Uber is simply a company based upon redefining who an employee is. Its earnings are based upon drivers making less than the minimum wage, the lack of health insurance, holiday pay etc.
No uber in ireland .it's totally outlawed .but we need it ,taxis still acting like they did in other countries before uber
You can blame government for that! Gov gets in the way of progress.
uber is used by taxi drivers in Ireland. you have to be licensed to transport other people for purposes of commerce as normal insurance won't cover you in the event of an accident.
Wow..
I am now working as an overhire thru a union. I am an employee to whatever company I am working for. They pay me up $92 per hour plus enormous benefits and I can turn down any gig I want. I get paid for 5 hours even if they only use me for one or two hours which happens fairly frequently. Gee that defeats the only benefit Uber has for drivers, flexibility, and I get paid 5-6 times as much money with no liability and no overhead other than clothes and a few hand tools.
Thank you Journalists, you are a vital piller of an open democracy. ❤️❤️❤️
Michael R Annis actually the abc No longer reports on liberal corruption. After they got defunded, they’ve been a good little lap dog ever since.
Magsec5 wtf is liberal corruption! Seriously. Corruption is corruption. And those who corrupt ought to got to jail. If you’ve got claims to make, back them up with data or evidence. Don’t toss out lazy accusations. Read, get some evidence. Kinda like these ABC journalists right mate?
journalist and truth is a bigger oxymoron than taxis and fair prices
Is that sarcasm?
Masan no
Why are Aussie taxes being spent of compensation to Taxi drivers instead of Uber paying that??
Why should it cost hundreds of thousands to buy a licence just to drive a taxi?
I know licence holders who rented their licences to drivers.
The government loved taxing the a arse out of the taxi industry and people who could afford the licences loved the monopoly they had now they both are crying because someone foxed them.
The taxi licence holders were investors they shouldn't get a cent as because with all investments there is a risk.
pheenix Rivera because taxis paid the Australian government $ Billions of dollars in licence fees, to operate in Australia legally. In Queensland alone you times 3500 plates by $250,000
taxis in Australia are criminals
asf ponzi schemed Uber’s not and the aussies who vouch for it
Thinking beyond is not your stuff. Only the thing you can do is having fun.
I will never trust a random Uber drive with my food. They will snack on it for sure.
The bags are sealed actually. You have obviously never used it.
I'm all for Uber if they are aggressive, push the boundaries and leverage technology. BUT, not at the expensive of illegal activity the kills the competition (meaning other ride sharing platforms), or completely invading my privacy to monitor anything else on my phone not related to the apps.
As a consumer I'm grateful Uber took this fight. Taxi drivers have been screwing over their customers for a very long time.
There's two sides to the story. Uber is screwing their drivers. It's now become a charity for drivers.
@@Ed-se6by if you feel like uber is screwing you as a driver, don't drive for uber then.
@mark navarro where did you get the stats from? 90% cant be accurate.
I disagree. For sure they have a huge number of people leaving the program. All of these "innovating" ways to earn money are unsustainable.
There is this idiotic system where a taxi plate is worth $300,000. So if you paying a taxi fare you are paying the interest on a $300,000 loan. Its a recluse model designed to keep people in debt.
I was a ride share driver. It's basically adult babysitting. Now I work for a union. I never use rideshare and will never look back.
Some politicans kid wanted a taxi company so the state of calfornia allowed "ridesharing" now the govt tracks our movement and transaction history
They know what we say.
They know what we see.
They know what we hear.
Now, they know where we go.
One step closer to the matrix.
wow you are so deep. Sent from my smartphone
As well as what people who use their app eat.
@@Phendoxia ...They know how you communicate.
I wouldn't say we're going into a simulation world. But compared to grimy taxis with cage bars between you and drivers. Uber and Lyfr are like Cinderella's Pumpkin carrier.
I'd rather just have the driver drive, and not be all chatty.
Take a cab
Do drivers know of your intentions?? If not do you suggest it to them? If so how do they react? If you dont and the driver starts talking do you then keep composure untill the end of the ride to give them a poor rating or do you let the driver know once he starts conversing.... Im just a curious uber driver that's all.
Well what if your driver was a really hot chick with a really sharp sense of humor and who had big beautiful boobs. Maybe had a cool hobby like playing guitar and shared your political views. What about then?? Would you want your driver not to be all chatty?
@@bryank7133 yeah because none of the drivers speak english
@@kobebryant1265 I actually don't take Uber, but I imagine if passengers take the backseat, then drivers would take the hint, right?
I can find one good thing about Uber....
1. My ride does not start at 50 danish crowns, and it does not cost 250 danish crowns to drive around 2 kilometers.
So transportation has become cheaper and consumers now have access to services like Uber Eats? That sounds like a good thing
Cheaper? Only due to Uber being able to evade paying the minimum wage to the drivers. So you think its ok that people are being paid less than the minimum wage AND have no holidays or superannuation because people are now getting cheaper transport? Public transport is cheap, having someone drive you in a private vehicle is not something that should be cheap. What kind of a selfish prick is happy that someone has to live in poverty as long as you get a cheap ride everywhere. AMazing how saving a few dollars is enough to make people ignore the erosion of worker's rights and probably the first massive step backwards our country has allowed with respect to equitable pay. At least give the driver a tip! (unless his driving was shithouse then rate 1 star because there are far too many bad uber drivers out there).
You're so smart
@@DasGigPig Wow, you're a real POS, aren't you? You pretend to care about working class people yet argue that you should give drivers a 1 star. You know that if a drivers average is below 4.6 they risk termination?
I dont complain to a manager when a waiter messes up my meal. I wouldn't be so egocentric as to risk someone's livelihood on my complaint. I would just leave a lower tip because I'm not a monster.
1 star lol, what a cosmopolitan thing to say. Dean "may I speak to your manager" Pearson
@@dacealksne oh stop..
@@dzmitrykakaruk6365 I understand what you are saying and I am well aware of similarities between taxi drivers and Uber drivers. It is all up to the driverin regards to when the choose to work and for how long. They are both constrained however by the rate at which their services are charged out to the customer. The rate (Uber drivers in Sydney get paid a base rate of $1.45/km and $0.4/minute) is what impacts a driver's earnings above all else. You can do 12 hours a day seven days a week and you will have days that are better than others but at that rate you are still going to find yourself with little to show for it after you pay for fuel, pay 10% GST, tax, car maintenance you can pay your rent and feed yourself, maybe pay your phone and internet bills. You certainly wont have enough to have 4 weeks holiday like every other full time employee and as for superannuation - yeah good luck with that one. Saying it's all up to the drivers because they are free to earn as much as they like, that sounds like the kind of spin that Uber carrys on with whenever they are asked about their relationship with their oh so valuable driver partners.
Sorry, can't afford to go in and get the full meal with appetizers, drinks, etc. If you are not making money working with Uber eats don't participate.
How did Uber convinced the regulators to change the law and allow it to operate legally? Since its original operations were illegal, it would be probably reasonably assume that they bribed the lawmakers (politicians).
Of course they did. And did that in every country they run, a new transport law to slow them to run "legally" along with an already existing transportation law. And this is not fair competition, to flood the market with cars without cap? It's like letting one brand of supermarket building one store in the city, and letting another brand supermarket build 100, that's rekt
“We made mistakes”. AKA Committed felonies and got caught. If I made those mistakes I would be in prison.
........Volkswagen don't look so bad either compared to Uber.. I think Volkswagen had huge expenses resulting from pulling their fast one
They will have to replace Susan too soon so her replacement can say the next unscrupulous practice was before their time.
After having to put up with those unreliable, combative arsehole Sydney taxi drivers and their monopoly, I think Uber is wonderful. Looks like the free market in action to me!
It's not free market, that's how you see it as. As long as there is no cap for te cars driving in those ridesharing platforms, there is no free market. It's like letting only one supermarket brand being built in a city, and another brand allowed to build 100. Where is the competition at? Free market? Not to mention the cheap prices for the fares, where drivers cry about, and clients smiles they're faces. Of course you don't care as a client, you just click and ride Coz it's cheap.
they act like there is no public using this service. "they thwarted the authorities" who do they think these authorities work for?
imperial cult of rome
I'm pro Uber ignoring stupid government regulations
Yeah this is liberal propaganda against red-blooded American companies like Uber...thanks to Trump Republicans for cutting all the red-tape put up by the socialist corporate Democrats colluding with Russia..
Yet another example of how the free market provides WAY better service at a better price. Government makes almost everything more inefficient and expensive, taking money from successful productive business and injecting it into industries that the market does not want or just being outright wasteful. Decentralization and localization of power and resources back into the communities where they belong is key. People know better which services they find meaningful and the concept of being forced to pay for "services" you don't want/and or are overpriced(taxation) is archaic and immoral, there are better ways for humans to organize and work toward mutually beneficial goals while still achieving order and protection of individual rights/natural law, but it starts in the mind and removing the belief in authority of men
Bridges and hospitals and public health are NOT PROFITABLE. Government is there to provide equal opportunity to everyone, something UBER does not do.
lol yes bridges and hospitals and public health are all profitable, the prison system is for profit also which is one of the reasons is packed full of non violent "offenders" like drug users. The "Healthcare" system is also for profit, and has is a drug pushing arm of the pharmaceutical cartel, healthcare should be over 95% just eating right, organic quality food, breathing clean air, drinking clean water, exercise and so on, there is no mention of these methods from most doctors these industries have been infiltrated and are absolutely for profit and not for the best interest of the patient. @@Commentator541
Spoken like a true fool. A total free market system benefits only the rich
Can you say “surge pricing” and “cleaning charges” for nothing? You get ripped of by Uber too
Used to be $200 a rider got for a cleaning fee. Now, we only get $150 from the customer who made the mess..UBER now takes $50 out of the clean fee as profit.
What they don't mention is that all taxi drivers are also independent contractors. Its normal.
people complaining about having new competition and customers paying less
only until they hold more of the market and other companies are almost out of business
@@evanthayne9124 Maybe those companies need to actually start competing.
Do y’all not have Lyft? I actually prefer Lyft because they’re cheaper. I’ve got the system down. Lyft downtown (Nashville, TN) and taxi home because prices go way up during “peak hours”. We have several taxi companies competing with both Uber and Lyft, and I think it’s great.
How can you possibly pay less.
@@majorramsey3k there is no competition. UBER just takes 80%...even if it is surging. They are making it a non profit for the drivers.
watch carefully how Anderson suppresses lips slightly a few times when she is asked about software, she knows everything, also she responded to quickly
Yeah, the disruption at restaurants is you have to wait for your food while the restaurant preempts your order to fill an Uber eats order.
Uber is about to hit the buffers in the UK. Judges have dismissed Uber’s appeal against a landmark employment tribunal ruling in October 2016 that its drivers should be classed as workers with access to the minimum wage and paid holidays. The case now goes to the Supreme Court.
Ken M Interesting....Thanks for that!
I can understand the opposition especially by Taxi Owner/Drivers where a person has to study and pass exams for a license, pay sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars for it, buy a suitable vehicle, work it almost 24/7 to repay debts and make a living...and then comes along a system where almost 'anything goes' and costs peanuts to get onboard.
For new immigrants with little English and who don't have the resources to buy a Taxi but are prepared to rent one and then work 12 plus hours a day 6 or 7 days a week and every week it is a way of starting to 'climb the ladder', learn better English on the job and perhaps the option of buying a rig of his/her own.
I can understand also the innovation and "competition" of a "free market". Until you see cities flooded with cars running for this innovation, meaning no cap cars, resulting in even more crowded and congested roads in the cities.
No cap cars defies the ideea of a free market, it's like letting one supermarket brand building to be built, and another 100 supermarkets of a diffrent brand. That's rekt.
You want free competition top the existing taxes in the city with the same amount of ridesharing cars.
But there is another back hole thing in this innovation, no one has acces to they're servers, and because it's an app thing, with the license for a city you can take orders in a diffrent city, and that's illegal. But as is aid above because none is having acces to they're servers, this practice happens a lot.
I have had some bad experiences with taxi companies/drivers. But overall I still prefer taxi's for a number of reasons. Including most of them work full time and are interested in getting you to your destination, give feedback, will take alternate route, will make multiple stops if needed, as they see you as a customer and want a tip,so they work for it Uber drivers just expect a tip (becuase they got you there), they live off GPS and don't even engage even at a stop light. Many work part time and are clueless. The number one reason I avoid Uber and Lyft, is now you see a lot of them making double income filming passengers without their permission, and posting it to RUclips without their permission. Here is where I have a major issue with that, imagine if you are with a bunch of coworkers, friend you just met at school, etc. and one of them acts like a jerk (you might not able to stop their actions), but now you will be on the internet and may have done nothing wrong. I also never order from Restaurants that don't offer delivery and only rely on third party delivery services. I will wait longer and pay more to get delivery from a restaurant that offers it directly to customers.
I hate those illegal scooters on sidewalks. Dangerous! San Francisco banned Segways on our sidewalks but allows these! Politicians are hypocrites. Need to pay homeless to pee on their bikes. I’d invest in a rideshare company that wants to put Uber out of business using the same unfair business practices that they used. Then when they try to sue for it they will lose under the principle of unclean hands.
.........that's an interesting clause of law.."unclean hands"...huh
Fighting Uber is like fighting IBM or Microsoft for making typewriters obsolete...:-)
So you think the unfair competition lawsuit will fail? Good luck!
Shame on Australian politicians for allowing this parasitic, ruthless organisation dictate to them. Must have been a lot of underhand clandestine activity going on. Nothing but support to the Australian Taxi drivers.
Is Susan Anderson about the creepiest person ever interviewed? She has the demeanour of a Chucky doll.
If you are hungry sign up to do uber eats deliveries. 5 or 6 dropoff's taking a bite from each. Do it in an area with good food!
😂
☝Sir, you're an idiot.
Uber and lyft came up with an awesome concept and now there taking advantage across the board you would think someone in power would step up and put a stop to what there doing
Ask the regulator to move with technology not sit on books of law. As I customer I should have the right to use whatever I want. The taxi licencing was so corrupt. Licence was used as an investment and a property. Where was the service aspect in such a licencing law.
I quit uber when they lowered rates to the point where only the most desperate drivers keep driving...as a result its not as safe as it should be!
Wait til your the one making a dollar an hour ... see if your so Uber happy ...
They talk about flying cars and regulations, this after they've already said what they think about regulation at any level.
So what have we learned? To become king, you condone murder. You encourage murder and assemble a great coterie of murderers and you commit murder. When you become king you denounce and purge all those evil murderers and then outlaw murder. You talk about all the mistakes and evil you've done. It is so regrettable and you see the error of your ways. Maybe you were even used by bad actors who's actions you weren't aware of. You are redeemed AND you rule the land! Priceless!
Not sure how comfortable I would feel to see those air taxis flying over hugely populated cities. What happens when one falls out of the sky?
A top down approach to start ups.. where if you do the right thing you loose.
This video is basically about how Taxi unions tried taking down a new competitor in the market, beating them at their own game. This made the unions upset and so they lobbied the governments to stop them and got outsmarted multiple times...
This does seem to be sponsored by some taxi interest.
in my country handful of politicians control all the taxi companies, so no uber for us...
And i bet you pay a lot for Taxi rides lol
If you don’t mind me asking, what country are you referencing?
I love how in the part where they talk about how Australia is on the shortlist for experimenting with sky taxis, the guy pronounces Melbourne and Sydney so deliberately the Australian way instead of how it normally sounds in an American accent
Was the script for the uber Australia GM provided by SF headquarters? 🤣🤣
In western Australia..the government spent probably millions in Paying compensation to taxi plate owners..
over 70% of Uber employees from software Dev. and VP of operation is an H1B Visa holder.
I would prefer uber evryday over taxi mafia. Particularly, when traveling overseas, I used to get ripped by taxi and pay 3x to 5x of actual cost. Now taking uber or applications like grab, I pay much less for a decent service.
CC CLOSED CAPTIONS please!!! Closed Captioning needed...please
25% to 35% off your gross take can be 50% or more of your profit, it's a disgusting business model, corporate parasites need to be exterminated.
In bangalore there is already Uber air!! For 4000₹ or 55$ you can have a 20min chopper ride to anywhere in bangalore. It decreases 3hrs of drive to 20mins.
It would also help avoid the filth on road for 20 mins
I knew from 2012, that Uber should not be allowed to exist. That's when they set up in Australia illegally. We had a very well run Taxi & Hire Car Industry. Taxis
& Hire Cars are required by State Laws to obtain a Licence. Now whilst are Taxis & Hire Cars were never 100% perfect. They were still pretty good & importantly this industry was heavily regulated, so if problems arise at least they had a chance to be fixed.
Uber on the other hand, did not apply for Licences, they did not even ask permission, they just started operating. What they did have is an expensive Legal Team, to dance around the Laws. This is cheap really, when you come into a market where Taxis are worth at least 500,000, & also Taxis have 4 different Insurances costing some owners $10,000 or more per Year. This gives Taxis Insurance for everything & every possible situation. Taxis are covered for a Billion Dollars or more if required.
So Uber comes in, Drivers can start with a $30,000 Car, & even if they have the correct Insurance Policy (Business as opposed to the cheaper Private), its only $1,000.
Now the key thing is Taxis & Hire Cars, are heavily regulated, whilst Uber, Lyft Didi; are not regulated at all. So do you think these guys are going to play by the Rules?
I can proudly say, I've never caught an Uber, or any RideShare. I did this because, its my way of fighting something that should never existed.
Did you know that, if I just started picking up passengers in my Car, prior to Uber, I'd be arrested.
Government's have let is down, by being bullied & tricked by Companies like Uber. Also every person who drives for Uber has let everyone down by driving for Uber, & only got yourselves to blame for being ripped off by Uber.
All the good Uber Drivers could of become Taxi Drivers or Hire Car/Limousine Drivers, at anytime. So why didn't you!
Also anyone who has ever caught an Uber, has let everyone down. Why didn't you just use a normal Taxi. The proof is here now that Taxis fairs are pretty much the same. If you caught an Uber, because you saved $1.20 or something like that, that is pathetic.
Anyway we can still stop Uber, & all the other RideShares. Governments should make them illegal. People should stop driving for them & People should stop riding with them.
The good drivers can go to the Taxi, or Hire Car Industry.
Passengers can also use Taxis & Hire Cars.
I re-iterate the Government should make Rideshare, or anything similar illegal, like it was originally. Also make the Penalties for Driving for Uber & other RideShare very steep. This should include Prison Time. Also have a Penalty for Passengers as well. We need desperately to curb this scourge from Australia & the World.
Cabbies should be suing the Government to remove plate fees and level the playing field that way. Then they can compete. After using both, Uber provides a better customer experience by far. I know when the driver is arriving. I can rate them. If I have any issues, it's dealt with immeditately. When cabbies can provide the same, I'll be happy to use them. Aussie cab Industry needed a big shakeup. Without Uber challenging them, nothing would've changed.
......or is it the money saved that appeals to you. Uber can't operate profitability at the rates they charge. They churn through the slave wage drivers...A big cause of the problem for taxi industry was investors buying plates then not really working their cabs nor contracting out their cabs to other willing drivers cos they didn't want others driving their cars. Investors were content to let plates accrue value and sit back..This problem was mainly on fringe areas of city.....Clearly a case of inadequate regulations not addressing community needs ,,we also permit wealthy non residents to buy Australian real estates and there ain't regulations against the wealthy buying multiple properties and having them vacant..Other countries have community benefit oriented regulations...In Australia the politicians feather their own nests.
Taxi drivers were being too dishonest. Often i have had to deal with drivers who refused to use meters and gave a fixed price on locations. When you arrived some places earlier than expected ... you get black mailed into paying double and sometimes even triple that price. And if you take into account the rate vs the meter price, 6-7 times the cost. If they had been honest to begin with and charged a fair price, or even just used the meter to price their passengers, i think it would have been hard for these kind of rides to take off. I also blame the gov for all of these but that isn't new.
This only happens to those who travel abroad or to unkown cities. There is such a thing as ordering a cab by phone and I had no complaints.
Love how all the Uber employees have those intense "true believer" eyes.
All the Taxis should just convert to Uber. It's that simple.
That’s what happened in Sth Africa where taxis were so corrupted or compromised you would get mugged, raped, murdered or kidnapped. They were so unsafe the unusable. Uber with its cashless payment, ride tracking, identity and police background checks gave people, especially women, a system they could safely use. Now pretty much the only Taxi drivers in Sth Africa are those with a criminal record. I’ve used uber in Moscow, Trinidad and Sth Africa and I love it. Governments and regulators corrupted by the taxi industry are doing you no favours. Don’t fall for this malarchy.
Uber has organized the ride sharing market. Great for consumers like me who have poor fare negotiating skills.
I worked for uber for a time, then became loyal to Lyft as the company is much more ethical as opposed to Uber as they tried to continually block Lyft. I wish Lyft could start in Australia
Uber is buying the biggest ride-hailing app in the Middle East.
In the biggest tech deal the region has ever seen, Uber is paying $3.1 billion for Careem with a mixture of cash and securities that will convert into Uber shares when the company goes public.
Careem, based in Dubai, was founded in 2012 and has since become the regional market leader with 30 million users across 90 cities in the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan. It was valued at more than $2 billion in a funding round in October
Firstly, UBER is not forcing anyone, anyparty.
Everyone is independent, anyone chose willingly, consciously, .etc.
so, why fuss after joining UBER in your own conscious mind rather than start complaining.. regardless of what UBER gains or loss. Focus your own business. Etc. Forget UBER..
Looks like feeling a sense of extra profit that could generate, these thoughts led you join. Now if it didn't met your expectations and you don't feel safe just logout of it and focus on your initial work rather than go out and complain, cry out..like being blackmailed you, daylight robbed you..
I believe your government didn't make mandatory to join UBER. Right? It was individual choice..
So, if it's not good for you just quit and leave UBER out of your life context forever..let UBER do what it does. Do not poke!
That's what I see in this content of information shown.
Everyone has right to do business, earn, be creative, until legal. uBER is one as such. So if one don't like it FORGET IT, but don't go back stabbing someone's efforts if it didn't worked for you. As simple as this.
24:34 "ALMOST all the cases we operate under" LOL, in other words, we don't do the right thing sometimes
Why does uber have cases in court in every country where they operates ????
Uber bleeding cash.... sounds like wall street.... sounds like the government.... so, what is new here?
Another bailout
UBER must've given a lot of dollars to the political parties in Australia to get away with some of the tricks they pulled! What I can't understand is a taxi can't even go out without being washed and vacuumed and the UBER driver just turns up and starts driving. Do they get pulled up by road safety inspectors as taxi drivers do and get defective notices if the car isn't OK?
I mean ubers are usually pretty clean or else you can give them a bad review, taxi's can go around dirty af smelling like shit and customers have no recourse
I don't understand why people use UBER when 90% of the time it is NOT CHEAPER. Especially uber eats, eating out is not cheap!
Commentator541 convenience
Taxi drivers should have shed blood if the government refused to enforce the law.
Customers are brats. As a taxi driver I hated talking to most of them arrogant creeps.
Contrary to the stereotype of the overly talkative taxi driver, it's the customers who talk to much and bother me in my 8 years on the jib.
I particularly detest Sydney people. Out of towners were the best.
Surf cam... ever heard of that?
No...... that manager can’t lie for
s__t.....
What uber is into is called surveilence capitalism or data is the new oil. however, cab business had got pretty corrupt. Uber mafia vs Taxi mafia take your pick.
Uber had to employ those tactics to subvert the protectionist regulations put in place to stop competition. I applaud their efforts and ingenuity.