Uber cracks down on drivers using GoCatch

AN UBER driver threatened with expulsion from the ride sharing platform for “a disruptive incident” says they were just exercising their rights.

The price war is heating up between Uber and its homegrown rival GoCatch.

AN UBER driver threatened with expulsion from the ride sharing platform for “a disruptive incident” says they were just exercising their rights.

Sam* received a threatening email from the tech giant after a passenger complained — not about dangerous driving, rudeness or unreliability, but for cross-promoting rival service GoCatch.

“Your rider let us know that there may have been an incident involving promoting the GoCatch rideshare platform as well as giving him a discount card to use the service,” the email said.

“If we hear of future similar complaints, we will suspend your use of Uber indefinitely.”

The email.

Although Uber insists that its drivers are independent contractors, rather than employees, the company retains the right to boot individuals off the platform.

News.com.au understands that the warning has been issued to a number of drivers who operate on both platforms.

Spooked by the email, Sam quit GoCatch, but is not happy about the situation — and doesn’t understand why a customer would be bothered.

Sam is now unclear on whether Uber drivers can even use both platforms simultaneously, since having the GoCatch app open on their second phones could be interpreted as “advertising” if a passenger spotted the logo.

What counts as “promoting” a rival brand?

The crackdown is the latest front in a battle over the growing market for cheap, convenient ridesharing services — which still operate in a grey area of the law in most states and territories.

“I’m afraid if I lose Uber, I won’t be able to afford my lifestyle, and GoCatch is just new,” Sam said. “I can’t take the risk.

But, “I don’t think it’s fair; I know even taxi drivers have contracts with a couple of different companies, they can drive wherever.”

GoCatch chief executive Ned Moorfield, for his part, said he had no problem with his drivers operating on both platforms at once.

“Absolutely, they’re independent operators; we don’t view them as ‘ours’ or try to restrict them at all, so we wouldn’t have a problem with them trying to book an Uber job [while driving for GoCatch],” Mr Moorfield said.

The furore comes as a price war threatens Uber’s dominance of the ride sharing market, just weeks after GoCatch slashed its off-peak fares by five per cent. The homegrown start-up does not use surge pricing, the unpopular Uber feature that saw users hit with bills for hundreds of dollars to get home on New Year’s Eve.

Thousands of drivers are understood to be operating on both platforms after GoCatch launched in February, starting in Sydney’s inner suburbs. A national rollout is planned down the track.

‘WE FALL INTO A BLACK HOLE’

Ride Share Drivers’ Association of Australia President Dan Manchester told news.com.au Uber’s latest crackdown contradicted the terms of its driver agreement, which states that the company does not “direct or control” its drivers, who “have complete discretion to provide services or otherwise engage in other business or employment activities”.

The contract even spells out that this includes the right to use “other software application services”.

But Mr Manchester argues that Uber does not abide by the spirit of the agreement.

“They explicitly say you retain the right to use other platforms, then they’re saying ‘we’re going to deactivate you for doing exactly what’s allowed in your contract,” he argued.

“They structure their business so that drivers are not seen as employees, yet Uber behaves exactly how an employer behaves, trying to control your actions ... We fall into a black hole where Uber can do exactly what they like.”

And cross promotion was not the only area where the company imposed control on drivers’ behaviour, he said.

“They give you the right to accept or reject a ride, but if your acceptance rate drops too law, they start punishing you by dropping you off the system,” Mr Manchester said.

“They arbitrarily deactivate drivers based on feedback from passengers with no investigation — They won’t ask drivers for their side of the story ... It’s so far short of the standards of fairness we have in Australia. This is people’s livelihood we’re talking about.”

In its contract, Uber retains the right to deactivate drivers for any reason at its discretion, including those found to have disparaged the company or its representatives, or damaged its brand, reputation or business.

An Uber spokeswoman said in a statement: “Drivers are of course able to use multiple apps, including Uber. To suggest we have communicated otherwise is false. Drivers have been using multiple apps since Uber first launched in Sydney in 2012, and nothing has changed.

“Uber’s priority is to ensure the best possible experience for both drivers and riders using our platform. We take the feedback from riders and drivers very seriously, and will take appropriate steps if someone has a negative experience.”

* Not the driver’s real name.

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Originally published as Uber cracks down on drivers using GoCatch