Boston Cab Dispatch Inc. and EJT Management, two of Boston’s largest cab companies, sued Uber Technologies Inc. March 11 for not following regulations with their mobile app designed to allow customers to summon a cab and eliminate the need for monetary transactions between the customer and driver.
“Uber has created an illegal transportation service that violates state laws and Boston ordinances and deceives consumers about the fares they must pay, the safety of the cars and drivers transporting them, the insurance coverage available, and the legality of Uber’s service,” stated the complaint filed by the cab companies Monday in Suffolk Superior Court.
The cab companies’ public relations firm, DBMediaStrategies Inc., said in a press release Tuesday that Uber does not follow correct inspections of the cars or the drivers.
“[Uber] does not have a regular program of inspecting, licensing and insuring vehicles as required by regulations, enlists drivers who have not met proper license requirements, [and] forces consumers to waive their rights to hold Uber accountable for
dangerous, offensive, harmful, or unsafe behavior by its drivers,” according to the release.
Sam Perkins, the lawyer representing the two cab companies, said Uber does not follow the same screening processes for its employees or inspect its cars.
“The primary problem with Uber is that we have a system of regulations of taxis that make sure the taxi drivers pass at least a 13-point test of safety, criminal record, driving record, sex offender registry, immigration status and so on, and Uber doesn’t require any of that,” Perkins said.
Perkins said Uber is simply refusing to comply with decade-old laws already in place for cab companies, and regulators do not know how to deal with it yet.
Although Uber cars do not follow regulations and charge significantly more than regular cabs, they compete with other taxis because of their convenience, he said.
“Uber operates through black cars and SUVs. They dispatch just as quickly as cabs, they travel around the city like cabs do, and can be hailed essentially with the click of a button, so they are competing with cabs, without following the regulations that every other cab company follows,” he said.
Uber Technologies, Inc. representatives declined to comment on the lawsuit.
The lawsuit challenges Uber’s new app called UberX, and Perkins said this service is an even less regulated, cheaper version that Uber hopes to use to monopolize the transportation business.
“Uber’s brand new UberX system is designed to have anybody with a car less than six years old and a driver’s license become a taxi driver in their spare time, and that plan is designed to eliminate the entire taxi system and replace small convenient rides for hire,” he said.
DBMediaStrategies Inc. said in the release that the cab companies plan to ask for a portion of profits from every Uber fare, as well as other forms of compensation.
“The suit asks the court to award the plaintiffs profits from all fares collected by Uber as well as monetary and punitive damages which could total in the tens of millions of dollars under consumer protection laws,” according to the release.
Oleg Uritsky, an owner of a fleet of cabs in Boston, said Uber disregarded years of laws with the use of its app.
“You can’t simply go into business as a cab company and ignore decades of rules and regulations,” Uritsky said in the release. “The regulations exist for a reason and Uber is exploiting loopholes for its own benefit.”
Amar Daw, 47, a cab driver for Metro Cab, said he prefers to get called for a job over getting flagged down in the street, but knows other drivers have been negatively affected by Uber’s operations.
“I haven’t noticed anything at my company,” he said. “Nothing has changed for me, but I have heard other drivers sometimes complain about it [Uber]. They feel like they are taking jobs away from them, as well as their income.”
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The taxi Company often exploits taxi-cab drivers by charging $950/week ( for one taxi-cab lease per week $950) Most Taxi company do not have insurance coverage for taxi drivers and only carries liability insurance for their passenger and vehicle only. Most Taxi -cab company who operates in Los Angeles areas do not carry full insurance for their passengers and drivers. If the taxi driver get hit by an insured motorist, he/she will be out of lack. I’m a taxi driver in Los Angeles and when i was driving a company cab i got hit by an insured motorist . And the taxi company refused to cover me from their liability insurance and the taxi company said ‘ as a taxi company we do not cover other drivers fault’
I support UBER AND UBER-X Company for many reasons. The first and most important is that UBER Company do not exploit taxi drivers and their passengers. Next, taxi drivers or owner operator can be able to purchase full insurance coverage for their passenger,driver and vehicles without any obstacles.
Uber company do not charge for waiting time for their customers and only charges flat rate. UBER company check driver’s background and drug screening and also inspects drivers vehicles. As a matter of fact, UBer requirement is tougher than the so called taxi company. The greedy taxi company only cares his lease money. Besides UBER’S inspection and screening , there is also DOT inspection. When the last time that couch potato taxi company raised up and inspects taxi drivers vehicles anyway.
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