Cape Town - More than 200 cars belonging to drivers that have partnered with Uber have been impounded in the city since January for operating as taxis without permits.
The company said at a media conference on Tuesday its partner drivers were victims of a “broken process”.
Uber, a software-technology company that connects customers to drivers in a particular area via an app, said it did not employ drivers, nor own vehicles.
The company estimates that it has missed out on more than 3000 potential trips, given the amount of cars that were taken off the road.
The briefing came days after a number of taxis were impounded at the weekend.
“There is still no clear route to licensing,” said Alon Lits, Uber general manager for sub-Saharan Africa.
“The issuing of operating licences is a process that should take a few weeks, but this has taken months and still not one licence has been issued.”
He said the outcome of the pre-licensing process was due this week, but the company had been told that it could expect a response next Friday.
MISCONCEPTION
It was not clear how many cars were impounded at the weekend.
“We do choose to stand behind our driver partners,” Lits said. “Uber complements the existing transport system. We have also noticed that when Uber arrived in the city, the city has become safer and taxi crimes decreases.”
He said there had been a lot of misconception on the market about Uber operating illegally, and about rides not being safe.
“I want to completely dismiss that. Uber is connecting you to the safest drivers on the road. We interview the drivers before we partner with them. They have to produce a driving permit, and we do a criminal background check.
“The scary thing is that 10 to 15 percent of the drivers that come to us with a professional driving permit actually have a criminal background,” he revealed.
Uber driver Mukrin Mohamed said: “I feel like the law is unfair. I feel like officers do not do their jobs as traffic officers.”
His car was one of the taxis impounded at the weekend.
The City of Cape Town had previously said that sedan taxis operating without permits were targeted during weekend operations.
The move to step them up was made after the City received more complaints from taxi owners with legal operating permits.
Cape Times