Uber

Uber and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Month

December 10, 2014 2 min read

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The last couple of weeks have been rough going for Uber, as the ridesharing service continues to be hit by regulatory roadblocks from cities around the globe.

Now comes word of more legal woes: The cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles have sued the company over allegations that it overcharges consumers, as well as makes misleading claims about the safety of its service.

Security-wise, the charges center on the discrepancy between Uber's claims that it employs an "industry-leading background check," and what both cities paint as inadequate screening measures. Speaking at a news conference, San Francisco District Attorney George Cascon called Uber's security checks "completely worthless," because the company fails to fingerprint its drivers, according to The L.A. Times.

Lyft, a smaller ride-sharing competitor, was also sued by both cities. Unlike Uber, Lyft has agreed to settle, paying out $500,000 in civil penalties.

While the civil suits aren't likely to shut down Uber in either Los Angeles or San Francisco, they come at trying legal times for the company, which has faced new operational snags in a host of cities both domestic and international. Yesterday, the ridesharing service was banned in Delhi, just days after a driver was accused of raping a passenger. India is not the first country to take strong action against Uber. The company has run into regulatory problems in Frankfurt, Germany; Toronto, Canada, the Netherlands, and most recently Madrid, Spain and Rio, Brazil.

Stateside, challenges from local regulators have also recently erupted. On Monday, Portland sued Uber, and the ridesharing service also faces legal battles in Nevada, Little Rock, Ark., Richmond, Va., and Cambridge, Mass.