More Uber drivers kicked off app

Uber drivers are mystified about why they have been kicked off the app following complaints from customers.

Five Uber drivers approached Radio New Zealand with their concerns.

One driver – Victor, using an alias to protect his privacy, – returned from a two-week holiday over summer to an email from Uber telling him he had been deactivated following reports he made sexually suggestive remarks to a customer.

“If I’m not driving for two weeks, how can I do something? If I did something, why didn’t the rider let me know – let Uber know 31st of December, on [the] night, if it happened?”

“I say, I can prove it because I recorded every weekend… but Uber never give me a chance,” says Victor whose rating was 4.95 stars.

Harmanpreet Randhawa, whose rating was 4.81 stars, was deactivated last week because of concerns over his driving speed, with no review option given to him.

“I don’t have any job – actually I bought a car for Uber and I was doing it for the last one-and-a-half year. So everything was earning good so I had more than 3000 trips… but now I’m very struggling to do something because I don’t have money.

“Actually, I’m paying finance $100 every week for the car and insurance and everything because Uber was [my] only job.”

An Uber New Zealand spokesperson says drivers can install cameras for safety purposes, but it has a “safety-first approach to dealing with breaches”.

There is no requirement to seek evidence from both parties and Uber has the right to deactivate drivers anytime, the spokesperson says.