Uber drivers stay on road after sexual misconduct claims: NSW government audit

Uber has allowed almost all drivers accused of sexual misconduct to remain on the ride-sharing platform.

Uber was issued with 13 improvement notes and fined $200,000.

Uber has allowed almost all of its drivers accused by passengers of sexual misconduct to remain on its ride-sharing platform — in contravention of the company’s policies — according to a confidential audit conducted by the NSW government.

The review, written by officials at the NSW Point to Point Transport Commission with the assistance of consultants at PwC, found that in 94 per cent of sexual misconduct complaints, the drivers “were not removed from the platform, which is inconsistent with Uber’s stated policy”.

“In particular, some drivers with multiple complaints, including with respect to incidents Uber characterises as sexual misconduct, phone-related distracted driving and drowsy driving are able to continue to operate on the platform without appropriate action or investigation,” it reads.

“Uber’s duty officer verbally confirmed the systems and processes look at incidents of each category in isolation but not overall … as a result of this, the drivers with multiple incidents remain undetected and active in the platform.”

The audit – which also identifies a series of other major issues at the ride-sharing company including a failure to report incidents as required by the law and a record of poor driver training – was completed in July. The report has not been released but was obtained by The Australian.

In its few public comments about the audit, the commission did not disclose concerns about how Uber dealt with the sexual misconduct and did not provide any details about the extent of the problems with driver training and the company’s safety management system.

The commission issued Uber with 13 improvement notes and fined the company $200,000.

The audit found that of a sample of 765 drivers assessed, 79 had completed their Uber training in less than 10 minutes. A further 118 had completed their training in less than 20 minutes.

“Given the size and scope of Uber’s operations and business model, which heightens the level of risk, sophisticated systems are required. The system deficiencies identified are indicative of insufficient quality assurance in the ongoing monitoring, identification of deficiencies and continuous improvement of Uber’s Safety Management System,” the audit report reads.

The Point to Point Transport Commissioner Anthony Wing on Thursday said Uber had “responded to all the … directions in connection with the safety audit that have been due to date”.

“The commissioner, who at times publishes information and safety messages relating to compliance activities, noted in a media release that Uber’s incident management system was generally not effective enough and required improvement,” he said.

Under rules governing Uber and its smaller rivals Ola and Didi, ride-sharing platforms are obligated to report serious incidents to the regulator.

Separate incident reports lodged with the commission and obtained by The Australian provide a rare insight into the day-to-day lives of some Uber drivers.

In one instance, Uber did not report an incident until well after it occurred because it had originally classified the event as a “verbal altercation”. In fact, the driver had reported that his passenger had “punched him in the back of his head”. The passenger, meanwhile, said the driver had “spat and sworn at them”.

In another incident, the driver “noticed the riders discussing a small bag of what appeared to be an illicit substance”.

The note continues: “They had a larger bag/backpack with them on the back seat in which the (driver) reported they saw a gun.

“Upon completion of the trip, the (driver) contacted Kogarah police … the ride (account holder) stated police searched their house as a result of this report and found no weapon.”

Another passenger, a third incident report noted, had become verbally abusive and physically aggressive after the driver asked them to wear a seatbelt.

“The (driver) excited the vehicle fearing for their safety but the passenger chased after them, tackling them to the ground and tearing their shirt,” it read.

“At the time of the incident, the rider’s account was restricted pending a review of the incident. Following this review, the rider was reactivated after acknowledging Uber’s Community Guidelines.”

The commissioner’s audit concluded Uber failed to notify the regulator of hundreds of -incidents.

In October 2019, Uber told the commission it had not reported 211 events since 2017 but had introduced a new system to ensure the issue was resolved.

In March this year, however, Uber said it had found a further 524 instances of notifiable occurrence that had not been reported.

One part of the commissioner’s audit detailed publicly covered concerns about driver ¬fatigue. “Despite systems that Uber has in place, the audit found that over a two-week sample ¬period, 37 per cent of drivers had more than 12 hours of continuous driving time with some cases of up to 17 hours of continuous driving,” the commission said in August.

In fact, the audit found 11,283 of the shifts sampled had exceeded 12 hours. Of those, 218 were between 15 and 17 hours, while another 701 shifts ran for between 14 and 15 hours.

An Uber spokeswoman said many of the audit’s findings were “sensible, and in line with work already completed or under way”.

“There are others which we consider to contain misunderstandings and we are in discussions with the commission to clarify these issues,” she said on Thursday.

“While many of the most common unwanted sexual experiences may not fall into the most severe category of sexual assault, they may nevertheless leave the rider feeling uncomfortable. That is why we encourage reporting, including sexual misconduct which includes incidents of ‘asking personal questions’, ‘staring or leering’, and ‘inappropriate comments or gestures’.

“To further encourage reporting we introduced an On-Trip Reporting feature which enables riders to discreetly report non-emergency situations where they may feel uncomfortable and Uber’s safety team follows up after the trip. Repeated reports of such misconduct may result in permanent loss of access to the Uber app.

“For all sexual assault or serious sexual misconduct incidents we remove access to the account of the person in question while we look into the matter. We also assist in police investigations and routinely support law enforcement to help keep bad actors out of the rideshare industry”.