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Uber to pay $272M to Australian taxi operators

smh.com.au

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Re: Uber to pay $272M to Australian taxi operators

#71

Post by tianqi »

This is like compensating purse snatchers because the promotion of mobile payments reduces their income. Sydney's taxi is a shame to this wonderful city.

I still remember when I first just arrived in Sydney, I took a taxi from the airport to Waterloo and was charged $95, which made me fearful of Sydney prices. It took me time to realise that I had just run into a scam and that the ride should have cost just $20+. Nowadays I would never take taxi. That's why "they lost income when Uber entered".

Re: Uber to pay $272M to Australian taxi operators

#72

Post by brainphreeze »

codedokode wrote: post #24

What is the difference between taxi licenses and medieval monopolies (corporations)? Corporations had exclusive right to do some trade (e.g. make bread or produce salt) and nobody else was allowed to do it.

Government taking their cut(s) wherever possible

Re: Uber to pay $272M to Australian taxi operators

#73

Post by mianos »

jazzyjackson wrote: post #19
lannisterstark wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If I had started an illegal gypsy taxi business I would have been fined or arrested. Why are there different rules for large corporations? Shouldn't you be wondering why is it illegal for you to do the first thing rather than the last? Why shouldn't you be able to start what you call a 'gypsy taxi business.' what's the need for arresting you? Is it that authoritarian of a nation?

do you disagree with all laws or just ones meant to protect workers' wages?

The taxi laws didn't end up protecting the wages of the drivers. They ended up protecting the rights of the 'plate owners', who, having too much cash, used taxi plates as an investment and rented out the taxis to drivers on a nightly basis often for half cash. Which makes taxi drivers do anything for cash over recorded transactions.

The whole system is crooked, even today.

Re: Uber to pay $272M to Australian taxi operators

#74

Post by tensor »

tianqi wrote: post #71

This is like compensating purse snatchers because the promotion of mobile payments reduces their income. Sydney's taxi is a shame to this wonderful city. I still remember when I first just arrived in Sydney, I took a taxi from the airport to Waterloo and was charged $95, which made me fearful of Sydney prices. It took me time to realise that I had just run into a scam and that the ride should have cost just $20+. Now…

Toronto is notorious for this too. Either the credit card machine is broken and you must pay too much cash, or the credit card machine steals your card number, or you are refused a ride because it’s not far enough.

Even travelling through Europe I’ve been refused a ride because it was too short, and got overcharged by 2-3x once. I’d use Uber at this point even if it’s more expensive than a taxi.

Re: Uber to pay $272M to Australian taxi operators

#75

Post by Nursie »

tianqi wrote: post #71

This is like compensating purse snatchers because the promotion of mobile payments reduces their income. Sydney's taxi is a shame to this wonderful city. I still remember when I first just arrived in Sydney, I took a taxi from the airport to Waterloo and was charged $95, which made me fearful of Sydney prices. It took me time to realise that I had just run into a scam and that the ride should have cost just $20+. Now…

The taxi firms lost income because it wasn't a level playing field.

They played by the rules where Uber's well-known modus operandi in many countries was to skirt the rules or downright ignore them, while using billions of dollars of investor money to undercut the market.

I'm glad they exist to shake up the taxi market, and the rules changes were probably overdue. But I'm also glad uber got fined, because they behaved like pirates here and in many other countries. And I'm glad they didn't succeed in putting everyone else out of business, which seemed to be the play.

Re: Uber to pay $272M to Australian taxi operators

#76

Post by falloutx »

resolutebat wrote: post #36

It's worth noting that Australian taxis are generally terrible . They're expensive and notorious for ripoffs, particularly from the airport: scenic routes, bogus surcharges, "broken" credit card machines (plus 5% surcharge when they do work), drivers refusing destinations (by law they're not allowed to), and to top it all off they're not even safe, with taxi drivers responsible for a long string of sexual assaults. U…

If you are on long contract with a cab company, for example if you are a corporation who regularly needs a cab to pick people up from Airport, the prices are almost 4x per trip as compared to Uber. Even at peak hours Uber is much better

Re: Uber to pay $272M to Australian taxi operators

#77

Post by papruapap »

tensor wrote: post #74
tianqi wrote: post #71

This is like compensating purse snatchers because the promotion of mobile payments reduces their income. Sydney's taxi is a shame to this wonderful city. I still remember when I first just arrived in Sydney, I took a taxi from the airport to Waterloo and was charged $95, which made me fearful of Sydney prices. It took me time to realise that I had just run into a scam and that the ride should have cost just $20+. Now…

Toronto is notorious for this too. Either the credit card machine is broken and you must pay too much cash, or the credit card machine steals your card number, or you are refused a ride because it’s not far enough. Even travelling through Europe I’ve been refused a ride because it was too short, and got overcharged by 2-3x once. I’d use Uber at this point even if it’s more expensive than a taxi.

In 90% of all countries really, most common scam ever. That is why travelers use Uber more than natives.

Re: Uber to pay $272M to Australian taxi operators

#78

Post by theshackleford »

mvdtnz wrote: post #54
protocolture wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>They could have spent all this money lobbying So the valid response to an unjust situation is to throw money at it and pray for change? That our laws should be decided on who has the most money? Cabcharge V Uber? Or that, the law being stupid and unjust, was ignored by Uber, to the benefit of millions of australians, who experienced cheaper fares, resulting in a massive push to get the law changed from the bottom up…

Not everyone agrees with you that the situation was "unjust". And Uber is not the plucky underdog you're portraying them as. They built an empire on capital from the likes of Blackrock, JPMorgan, Softbank and other heavy hitters.

> Not everyone agrees with you that the situation was "unjust".

More do, than don’t. You won’t find many shedding tears for the bullshit grift that was most of the Australian taxi industry. Good riddance to it and the completely terrible laws that allowed their nonsense to continue unabated for as long as it did.

Re: Uber to pay $272M to Australian taxi operators

#79

Post by chx »

All these takes here.

Two preambles: Y'all need to read Invisible Hands, really need to. That book is about how various losely connected sometimes even competing groups of businessmen worked to roll the New Deal back. It's not a conspiracy theory, there was no shadow cabal behind the scenes -- but the goal was common. https://wwnorton.com/books/Invisible-Hands/

Second, Amazon was started to become a monopoly in retail and only begun with books because it was a relatively easy thing to work with.

Similarly, while Uber started with fancy cars soon enough it became a means to destroy the protections organized labor managed to get in the last hundred or so years. Or at least what remained of them. In this the company was exceptionally successful by creating what is called the "gig economy". As people hate taxis, using that market for this purpose was the easy way. If you think past the introduction of UberX in 2012 Uber had anything to do with transportation then, pardon the pun, you have been taken for a ride.

Re: Uber to pay $272M to Australian taxi operators

#80

Post by theshackleford »

aragilar wrote: post #68
protocolture wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I ordered an uber from one side of the Sydney CBD to the other. We got to talking about ubers situation in the CBD. He told me he doesnt normally accept fares in the CBD because he gets pushed around by the police. As he was saying that, a motorcycle cop ordered him to pull over for an inspection. I thanked him and decided to walk the rest of the trip. Anyway, now armed with the reason I couldn't get an uber reliably…

Or, you know, public transport...

He said “best” not barely adequate at the best of times.
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