How Uber Can Benefit From Regulation

As Uber struggles to address complaints in dozens of the more than 250 cities where it operates, one of the company’s biggest problems is its screening process for drivers. On Dec. 8, India’s home ministry advised the country’s states to ban unregistered car-service apps after an Uber passenger in Delhi accused her driver of rape. (Uber said it suspended the driver’s account and is working with investigators.) On Dec. 9 the district attorneys of Los Angeles and San Francisco filed a joint lawsuit accusing Uber of misleading passengers about its background checks for drivers. The DAs’ complaint sought to force Uber to change its practices to comply with the law and pay a penalty. Archrival Lyft settled with the government, agreeing not to make misleading claims about its background checks and to pay $500,000.

On Dec. 17, Uber said it would experiment with polygraph tests and other ways to screen drivers outside the U.S. “Our responsibility is to leverage every smart tool at our disposal to set the highest standard in safety we can,” the company said in a blog post. “We will not shy away from this task.”