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Uber Drivers Arrested By Undercover Cops In Hong Kong

Posted by timothy on from the voluntary-interactions-among-adults dept.

The Stack reports that local police have raided Uber's Hong Kong office, "after several officers posed as Uber customers and arrested drivers on Tuesday morning in an attempt to put an end to illegal taxi services. Five drivers who had offered their services across the taxi-hailing app were arrested on suspicion of illegally carrying passengers and driving without third-party insurance. The men are being held for further investigation." Are local police quite this concerned in your city with car-sharing dispatch services?

9 of 231 comments (clear)

  1. Can we quit pretending that it's car "sharing"? by Rei · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There's nothing at all related to "sharing" about services like Uber.

    --
    I'll never forget the last thing grandma said to me before she died: "What are you doing in here with that knife?!?"
    1. Re:Can we quit pretending that it's car "sharing"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Can we also quit pretending that these "crackdowns" are about safety? They are 100% about money.

    2. Re:Can we quit pretending that it's car "sharing"? by Rei · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If by "money" you mean "the money everyone else has to pay in higher insurance premiums due to Uber drivers taking part in commercial driving without paying commercial premiums", then yes.

      Beyond that, even if you don't like the current system, that doesn't mean that you can legally willfully violate it. For better or worse, Uber has a business model built around breaking the law. Don't get so shocked when legal action gets taken.

      --
      I'll never forget the last thing grandma said to me before she died: "What are you doing in here with that knife?!?"
    3. Re:Can we quit pretending that it's car "sharing"? by Penguinisto · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I believe that by "money", GP meant "bribery". HK and most of China is notorious for requiring more than a few 'gifts' to the local constabulary and bureaucrats, all in order to insure that your business runs with as few 'incidents' as possible.

      --
      Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
    4. Re:Can we quit pretending that it's car "sharing"? by siddesu · · Score: 3, Insightful

      But "they" do where I live -- in two countries. Uber refuse to pay required taxes, licenses, insurance, social security payments. All this gets paid by someone -- me. Why? Because a few thousand hipsters think that taking a cab at a 30% discount is uber-cool. Thanks, but no thanks. And it only 'works' because Uber can collect payments outside of the jurisdiction they provide services in.

    5. Re:Can we quit pretending that it's car "sharing"? by Jawnn · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I don't argue the point that Uber drivers and/or Uber itself is breaking laws in many jurisdictions.

      The point is that while some of those laws seem to serve a legitimate purpose (providing insurance protection for passengers, etc.) others are intended to protect the profits and often poor service of the taxi monopoly.

      Perhaps, but before the taxi industry was regulated it was a fucking nightmare. Trust me, you don't want that. No. Really. All the coolness of Uber is going to look like so much dumb-ass naivete if they succeed in making their unregulated service "legal". History... doomed to repeat it, and all that.

  2. Re:Taking gas money by Rei · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Are you taking the trip with them because you both happen to be going to the same destination, or are you simply driving them to the destination to get the money - and not just gas money, but an amount much greater than your total costs, to compensate you for your time?

    Trust me, courts are not so stupid as to not see the difference between A) sharing the costs of an activity, and B) performing an activity as a for-profit for-hire service.

    --
    I'll never forget the last thing grandma said to me before she died: "What are you doing in here with that knife?!?"
  3. Re:Taking gas money by edtice1559 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is a loaded question to which you already know the answer. If I'm already going someplace, I'm allowed to take a friend or colleague with me. They can be nice enough to offer me some gas money. If I drive them somewhere that I didn't intend to otherwise go, I'm running a taxi service. There are grey areas all the time with people personally known to you that might run afoul of some interpretations of taxi regulations. When you start driving strangers to places that you wouldn't otherwise be going in exchange for money, it's a clear violation. The fact that some grey area may exist doesn't in any way make blatantly illegal activities any less illegal.

  4. How is Uber a ride sharing service? by dablow · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I mean can I get a ride from them, without paying, and in return in the future give a ride to somebody else? No.... If I could, I would be first in line defending them.

    It's a damn taxi service with an app......that is all it is. And currently, the reason they can offer lower prices than most local taxi services in the West is because they don't pay the limited and expensive taxi plates, their drivers aren't tested and given a taxi license (that is usually more expensive than a regular license), they do not belong to some sort of taxi association (which gives you access to their territory, get hails etc.), their cars do not go though taxi inspections.......Which is not to say that normal taxi service is more secure or anything, these are all just hidden forms of taxation who's costs are passed along to the clients.

    They are competing unfairly and all profits go to Uber....we the taxpayers get screwed in the end because Uber is not paying their fair share......