Uber admitted “mistakes,” but blamed previous management. (Represent)
San Francisco:
A joint media investigation revealed Sunday that a joint media investigation revealed a cache of confidential files leaked from the ride-sharing app Uber illustrating the ethically questionable and potentially illegal tactics the company used to fuel its frenzied global expansion.
Dubbed the “Uber profile,” the investigation, based on 124,000 records and involving dozens of news organizations, found that early in the San Francisco startup’s history when it Tapping into new markets, company officials have sometimes used the taxi industry’s backlash against motorists to garner support and evade regulators.
Uber in a statement Sunday acknowledged “mistakes,” but blamed previous management under former chief executive Travis Kalanick, who was forced to resign in 2017 following revelations forced him to have brutal management practices and repeated sexual and psychological harassment at the company. .
“We have moved from an era of confrontation to an era of cooperation, demonstrating a willingness to talk and find common ground with old rivals, including labor unions and taxi companies,” it said. .
The investigation found that as Uber’s subsidized drivers and reduced fares threatened the taxi industry, the company’s drivers faced fierce retaliation, including protests. in Paris in 2016.
The Washington Post reported: “In a number of cases, when drivers were attacked, Uber executives were quick to take advantage” to seek public and regulatory support when they enter new markets, “often without applying for a license to operate as a taxi and transportation service.” of the media involved in the poll.
Kalanick called for a protest in Paris and seemed to suggest that violence would help the cause in a letter to other officials that said, “Violence guarantees success.”
Kalanick denied the findings, with a spokesman saying he “never suggested that Uber should use violence to take away a driver’s safety” and that he “never allows any any act or program of obstruction of justice in any country.”
The investigation also alleges Uber tried to evade regulatory investigations by taking advantage of technology, the Post wrote, describing an instance when Kalanick performed an “off switch” to cut off remotely. access of devices in the Amsterdam office to Uber’s internal systems as a regulator. assault.
Another finding, according to the Post, indicates that between 2014 and 2016, Uber found an ally in then-French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron, now the country’s president, whom the public The company believes it will encourage managers to be “less conservative” in their interpretation of the rules that restrict the company’s operations. “
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and was automatically generated from the syndication feed.)
