Tag: uber

Report: Uber accused of taking 50 percent of its drivers’ tips

Filed under: Government/Legal, Technology

Uber drivers file suit against the start-up transport company, claiming it steals half of its drivers tips.

Up-and-coming transportation service Uber finds itself in a sticky situation with a lawsuit filed against it by two San Francisco Uber drivers that claim the company takes 50 percent of their tips, The Verge reports. The practice of taking a share of employees’ gratuities is illegal in California, so Uber’s handling of tips could be violating California labor laws if it is established that drivers are actual employees. But Uber views drivers as contractors, and if that’s the case the tip-taking practice isn’t illegal.

This isn’t the first such lawsuit, either. Earlier this year drivers in Chicago and Massachusetts reportedly filed similar complaints against Uber.

Uber makes a mobile application with which drivers-for-hire can connect with passengers and schedule rides. Google recently invested $250 million in the company, part of an investment round totaling $360 million. Following the investment, Uber was valued at $3.5 billon.

In a statement provided to The Verge, Uber says it “values its partners above all else,” and calls lawsuits like this latest one frivolous. We’re not sure how the case is going to play out, but complaints about business operations don’t look good in the face of massive investments from major tech companies.

Uber accused of taking 50 percent of its drivers’ tips originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 29 Aug 2013 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Google invests $250M in Uber ride-share service

Filed under: Technology

DENVER, CO. - FEBRUARY 10: Kevin Labonte, owner of Special Times Limousine, supplements his own fares with those he contracts out from Uber. State legislators may enact proposed changes supported by the taxi community that say Uber is an unregulated service. Though not regulated, Uber merely connects private drivers, who comply with all PUC regulations, to customers. (Photo By AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

The number of people who haven’t yet heard of the transportation/technology startup Uber is shrinking by the minute. Uber produces a mobile application that is used to connect passengers with drivers of vehicles for hire, typically luxury vehicles – kind of a high-tech, high-zoot taxi calling service.

Use of the app may be spreading gospel of Uber within urban centers, but the company is also generating tremendous buzz for sourcing massive investment, including a reported $250 million sourced from Google Ventures. Google’s quarter-billion makes up the better part of a $360-million investment round, with a resultant company valuation set at a staggering $3.5 billion.

So, what does Google, famous researcher into autonomous car technology, want with Uber’s popular ride-sharing software? Our wandering minds immediately leap to fantasies about driverless limousines and taxis as a logical next step. And, while that type of service might be possible down the road, a recent article from Forbes indicates that the road in question is a long one.

The reality may be a bit less theatrical than robot cabs, but is interesting nevertheless. Forbes believes that Google likes the concept of repurposing Uber tech to work with its own blooming Google Shopping Express play in the near term, along with all kinds of on-demand delivery in the not-distant future. The core idea of Shopping Express is to create a near-seamless way to go from a one-click purchase on your laptop to the knock of a delivery driver at your front door. Imagine combining the depth of Amazon’s shopping experience with the instant gratification of ordering Chinese food, and you get the idea. Google would seem to believe that Uber’s app, technology, and engineer brains are a fast step forward in that direction.

Google invests $250M in Uber ride-share service originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 23 Aug 2013 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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