Taxi service Uber has been ordered in absentia by the Amsterdam District Court to allow a driver back onto the platform. The man, Appie Omar, was wrongly identified as a fraudster by the company’s automatic system. The problem is much broader, say his lawyer and trade union FNV.
Omar was active as a driver in the Eindhoven region. Together with five colleagues from the United Kingdom, he had filed a case against Uber. The accounts of the other drivers must also be restored.
Because it is a judgment in default, which means that Uber was not present at the hearing, the judge did not look into the substance of the case. The ruling was made at the end of February, but was only published today. The account has still not been recovered, says Omar’s lawyer.
Plays since 2019
The summons that has been sent to Uber, and is in the hands of the NOS, shows that the Dutch driver has been struggling with the problem since the end of 2019. In December of that year and in March 2020, Omar’s account was deactivated and then restored because it was an error. A month later this happened again, then it was not restored again.
Omar’s lawyer, Anton Ekker, writes in the summons that an answer was only received from Uber after a summons. It read: “The fraudulent activities that Mr Omar has committed consist of performing a relatively large number of journeys without paying the passenger.” Omar and his lawyer say to the NOS that this is an incomprehensible explanation for them.
“My experience with Uber has been very bad,” Omar said of the case. “I invested a lot of money to be able to drive for Uber.” Because Uber had deactivated his account, he has not been able to drive for a year now.
Broader problem
According to his lawyer, the problem is broader. “I have been called by dozens of drivers in recent months, they all say the same thing,” says Ekker. “They indicate that they do not understand what is going on and do not know what they are accused of. If there is a response from Uber, it is often a standard message or they are in contact with an employee who knows nothing about it.”
Trade union FNV recognizes Omar’s story and has been receiving reports about this since 2018. “The accusation is often made quite quickly via the app or an email,” said driver Amrit Sewgobind. “As soon as the driver continues to ask what exactly happened, there is no clear answer. Ultimately, it will not be reversed. As a driver you are in fact without rights.”
In a response, Uber says it was only informed about the verdict last week. According to the group, the correct legal procedure has not been followed. Uber intends to take up the case after all.