Uber sued by 19 cab companies in state
LOS ANGELES — Taxi drivers in California must submit to fingerprinting for criminal background checks. UberX drivers don’t have to. Yet Uber Technologies advertises itself as “the safest rides on the road” and executives tout Uber as “safer than a taxi.”
That’s deceptive advertising and has caused “significant harm” to the taxi industry, 19 cab companies in California claimed Wednesday in a lawsuit filed in federal court. The companies allege that Uber’s false claims hurt the profits and reputations of the taxi business, and are seeking an injunction against what they call false claims, and unspecified damages.
The companies have suffered both financial and reputational harm to their Uber’s background checks, plaintiffs say, are less rigorous than the electronic fingerprinting of California taxi drivers. businesses, the lawsuit.
“Plaintiffs’ taxi cabs vie for the same customers as Uber cars, and — as a result — compete for the same dollars,” reads the complaint, filed in U. S. District Court in San Francisco. Potential customers, the suit says, “mistakenly believe that they will get a safer ride by hiring an UberX ride — spurn plaintiff’s taxi cabs for UberX rides, resulting in lost revenue for plaintiffs.”
The plaintiffs also take issue with Uber charging “Safe Rides Fee,” an additional dollar tacked onto each ride that Uber says goes toward driver background checks and safety features. The complaint alleges
according
to that the fee has “the tendency to deceive” customers into thinking that by paying the fee, they are “receiving the safest ride possible.”
Uber has not yet commented on the lawsuit.
Contrary to Uber’s claims, the suit says, taxis are more rigorous about safety than Uber, and for Uber to publicly say otherwise violates federal and state laws that prohibit false advertising.
Uber’s third- party background checks, plaintiffs say, don’t require fingerprinting and thus are less rigorous than the electronic fingerprinting of taxi drivers and subsequent background checks required by California law.