Uber flouted laws, duped police, exploited violence against drivers and secretly lobbied politicians, a trove of documents known as Uber files reveal. The cab-hailing app, during a five-year period, during an aggressive expansion forced itself into cities, even if it meant breaching laws and taxi regulations, The Guardian reported. Over 1.2 lakh documents leaked to The Guardian reveal several of the company's ethically questionable practices.
The company, which was run by Travis Kalanick between 2013 to 2017, tried to get backing by setting up meetings with prime ministers, presidents, billionaires, oligarchs and media barons discerningly. The company's executives at the time were under no illusions that the company was breaking the law.
According to reports from Le Monde, the company got support from politicians like French President Emmanuel Macron to gain access to cities like Paris. Uber did not deny any of the allegations, but, focused on changes that have been made since Dara Khosrowshahi was appointed CEO in 2017. There were four meetings between Kalanick and Macron, who at the time was finance minister. Macron was, “naturally brought to exchange with numerous companies engaged in the profound mutation of services that occurred during the years mentioned,” a spokesperson for the Elysee said to Al Jazeera that he (Kalanick) sought “to facilitate by untying certain administrative or regulatory locks.”
The aggressive tactics the company used to take on the taxi industry have been reported for years. Le Monde reported that while Macron was finance minister, there were a total of four meetings between him and Kalanick and a secret “deal” was put in place between Uber executives and French politicians.