Monday, Aug 29, 2016

Abu Dhabi: Online taxi company Uber on Monday denied its drivers had been arrested by police. A section of the media on Monday reported that the detention of drivers led to the suspension of services in the capital since Saturday.

“No Uber drivers were detained and we do not have any further details on any of the drivers detained,” an Uber spokesperson said in a statement to Gulf News.

Uber services, however, remained suspended in Abu Dhabi for the third consecutive day, along with those of Dubai-based company Careem. There was no confirmation on when these would resume, although the Uber statement reiterated that the suspension was “temporary...due to unforeseen circumstances”. “This is a precautionary measure and we hope to resume operations as soon as possible… We will have more information on Abu Dhabi within the next day,” the spokesperson added.

Uber, a US-based taxi hailing service, and Careem, have been operating in the capital since 2013. Both the companies suspended operations on August 27. Their smartphone applications no longer feature an option to call a driver. The services were especially popular with young expat commuters, who had used similar services in other cities and enjoyed the convenience of credit card payment.

The Centre for Regulation of Transport By Hire Cars (TransAD) which regulates taxi and limousine services, and the emirate’s transportation sector overseer, the Department of Municipal Affairs and Transport (DMAT), did not respond to queries despite repeated requests.

But a source told Gulf News that only drivers employed by 18 licensed limousine service providers can offer rides through Uber and Careem.

“Only drivers employed by limousine companies are allowed to pick up passengers. This is because unregistered drivers could pose a threat to any passenger, especially as drivers receive many personal customer details, including home location, contact number and credit card number,” said an official who did not want to be named.

Many drivers using Uber and Careem were known to only possess licences to operate transportation companies, without possessing TransAD authorisation to operate limousine services.

One transport company owner said that he had not bothered to obtain a limousine licence from TransAD due to the high fee. He said he offered rides to passengers after registering with the two ride-hailing companies, and insisted that he had a valid licence to run a transportation company.

The official also added that drivers who offered rides had to charge the same rates as limousine companies.

“Limousine companies are not legally allowed to charge fares that compete with public taxis,” the official said.

According to the Uber spokesperson, “All drivers in Abu Dhabi are licensed as transport providers who use our technology to be connected to riders at the push of a button”.

“Uber takes about 20 per cent of each [trip’s] earnings, and the drivers take the rest,” the statement added.

By Samihah Zaman Staff Reporter

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