IN THE NEWS
TAXI APP WARNED WOMEN TO TAKE ‘PRUDENCE’ AND ‘SHARE RIDE DETAILS WITH FAMILY’
A ride-hailing app which advised UK women “to use their own prudence in offering or accepting a ride” has been described as “dis- turbing” by the chair of the Work and Pensions Select Com- mittee.
Veteran MP Frank Field also called for reform of the licens- ing system for ride-hailing services, after two councils which licensed the app disclaimed res- ponsibility,
saying
they did not check terms and condi-
tions. Ola, the Indian taxi- hailing giant which staged a high-profile launch in Aug- ust,
included the
warning to women in a set of terms and conditions on its UK website. The same terms and
conditions also
advised women pas- sengers “to share the ride details with fam- ily, friends, relatives”. After being alerted to the presence of the clauses, Ola changed the text of its terms and condi- tions, blaming a
“technical error”. An Ola spokesper- son told Sky News the text was acciden- tally copied and pasted from a sepa- rate set of terms and conditions, which applied “to a specific carpool service that was
previously
offered only in India”. The firm stressed that the warning to women had never been part of its offi- cial UK terms and conditions, and that they were “not in any of our current global T&Cs”. However, their inclu- sion has
raised
questions about the licensing process for ride-hailing
apps
such as Ola. Ola offers ride-hail- ing services
in
Bristol, South Glou- cestershire, North Somerset and South Wales. Two of the councils
involved,
Cardiff City Council and Bristol Council, told Sky News it did not check terms and conditions - which lay out the rules for what is permitted on apps - as part of its vetting process. “Terms and condi- tions
that are
entered into as part of signing up for the app are not part of the application pro- cess,”
said a
spokesperson for Cardiff City Council, which granted Ola a five-year licence on 22 May 2018. “The council does have an overarching requirement to as- sess whether the applicant satisfies the fitness and pro-
42
priety test and the council is satisfied that Ola fulfil this requirement.” Bristol City Council, which granted Ola a five-year licence in September
2018,
confirmed it had not checked Ola’s app. “As the licensing authority, we are responsible
for
licensing the compa- ny but not a related app,” a spokesper- son told Sky News. “The content of this is controlled by the operator.” Neither council said it would be taking action against Ola as a result of its “acci- dent”. For Mr Field, this episode has raised serious concerns. He called for “a swift response from the government” to the Task and Finish Group proposals to reform the licensing process. James Farrar, chair of the United Private Hire Drivers branch of the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain, said the situation was urgent. “We are seeing licensing authorities right across the country failing to properly supervise the
complicated con- tractual
increasingly arrange-
ments of private hire app operators,” he said. “As these oper- ators seek to avoid public liability and employment rights obligations
both
drivers and passen- gers are unfairly exposed to risk.”
JANUARY 2019
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