Popular transport networking company Uber has been slapped with a hefty $7.3 million fine for not disclosing essential information to ensure the safety of their taxi users. The car transportation company, which has seen protests against it rock revenues in many parts of the world, was found guilty of failing to ensure user safety and abide by state operational requirements, adding on to the list of problems and accusations the company, which transports millions of Americans every year, has been facing.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) found against Uber for its regulatory naughtiness. The company was fined $7.3 million for its failure to disclose information on vehicle accessibility, drivers’ accident history and geographic information for taxis and information beneficial in determining whether users were being discriminated against on the basis of locality.
Presiding California judge Karen V. Clopton, though admitting that a few filings had been made, ruled that the car transport company had not fully disclosed all the information necessary to comply with state requirements that the company had in fact committed to abide by.
The $50 billion company now has 30 days to pay the fine to local authorities at its home turf or risk being denied an operational license.
Uber’s driver location system has been faulted for a number of reasons previously, all of which revolve around the safety of the passengers. In August 4 2014, the company was compelled to announce the scheduled removal of a driver who had failed a medical review and had suffered an epileptic seizure while driving, hitting three cars and injuring two people, including the passenger. It is these records that Uber keeps locked away from the public, possibly endangering their lives.
The California based company has insisted that they would appeal the ruling, consequentially postponing the deadline for the payment of the $7.3 million fine.
Even though Uber has access to the accident histories of their taxi drivers and has in the past pledged to uphold higher standards of ethical business practice, the company has failed and neglected their responsibility to ensure the ultimate safety of their passengers. The fine should prompt the company into developing a higher benchmark for consumer safety lest the loss of human lives serve as a harsher wake-up call.
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