Beleaguered app hires PepsiCo’s Tony West as chief legal officer

Just a month after Uber drafted in Hogan Lovells to launch a legal challenge to Transport for London’s (TfL) decision to not renew its private hire licence, the US-based ridesharing company has hired Pepsico’s Tony West as its new chief legal officer.

In a company email, Uber’s chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said that West, who served as PepsiCo’s executive vice president for public policy and government affairs, general counsel (GC) and company secretary, was ‘exactly what Uber needs now’.

‘He has public company experience leading a global team of lawyers across more than 200 countries. As a former federal prosecutor and senior Department of Justice official in the Obama administration, he’s well equipped to handle the investigations into our past practices. And at Pepsi, he has emphasised diversity on his team and across the company.’

Khosrowshahi added: ‘Perhaps most importantly, Pepsi has been named one of the world’s most ethical companies 10 years in a row. Under Tony’s leadership, I’m confident that we will one day join this list.’

Before working for the Obama administration West was a partner at Morrison & Foerster for over seven years. He will begin the role next month and replaces Uber’s current chief legal officer and GC Salle Yoo, who confirmed in September that she would be leaving the company after five years.

West will have his hands full as the company is facing several legal challenges over the coming months, including a legal challenge to TfL after the transport provider revoked Uber’s licence to operate in London in September. According to TfL, Uber’s approach to reporting serious criminal offences and how medical certificates are obtained were among the reasons it came to the decision.

‘Uber’s approach and conduct demonstrate a lack of corporate responsibility in relation to a number of issues which have potential public safety and security implications’, the statement read.

Hogan Lovells regulatory partner Charles Brasted is advising Uber, and has instructed Tom de la Mare QC of Blackstone Chambers.

The firm has previous history advising the company, as it acted for Uber last August on its legal challenge against new guidelines proposed by TfL. The regulations included written English tests for drivers and insurance for drivers for the entire time that their vehicle is licensed. In that matter, TfL was represented by its in-house team and instructed Martin Chamberlain QC of Brick Court Chambers.

Paul Dacam, who has since retired from the firm, led for Hogan Lovells and instructed de la Mare QC alongside Hanif Mussa of Blackstone Chambers

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Uber Accused Of Not Disclosing The Full Picture To Its Worried Investors.

TFL's New Cash Cow Announced, As They Intend To Raise Extra Funding From The 125,000 Minicabs.

Uber drivers are among those who face paying an extra £3,000 a year each to operate in London even if the company keeps its licence, according to The Sunday Times.

Transport for London (TfL), the regulator, plans to force private-hire vehicles to pay the £11.50-a-day congestion charge because of concern that the proliferation of minicabs is choking streets and emptying bus services. If Uber shoulders the payments, it could cost the company between £20m and £60m a year. 

At a meeting of licensing and enforcement officers in Leeds this month Tom Moody, head of policy for taxis at TfL, said the authority would propose the move within months. “We will be looking at the congestion charge potentially for all private hire vehicles,” he said. “In the summer of next year, we will likely be consulting on that and other policies.”

It is understood that the “other policies” being considered by Sadiq Khan, London’s mayor, include extending the charge from 6pm until 11pm or midnight and applying it on Saturdays for the first time.

Congestion and Uber competition have caused sharp drops in bus use. 

According to a presentation to the TfL board, passenger numbers have fallen 5.6% in two years, creating a £100m hole in the authority’s coffers. In big cities outside London, bus use is down 4%.

Source : Sunday Times. 

TAXI LEAKS EXTRA BIT: 

It seems there was a method behind TFL's madness of giving out PHV licenses like sweets, after all....they are now going to charge them the congestion charge. That's  125,000 times £30k per year. The expanded London Minicab fleet is now being blamed by TfL for the massive congestion that is bringing London to a grinding halt. 

Funny, when Tom Moody announced the proposed bonus to TFL's coffers, he never once mentioned the segregated cycle lanes or the fact that at any one time, there are twice the number of buses needed. 

The daily spectacle of a wall of buses, adding to the congested pollution...Total number of passengers 6, not counting the drivers!

Outside the rush hours, you can see empty bus after empty bus. Driver etiquette is appalling with blatant disregard to yellow box junctions (which buses are exempt from paying fines). 

We've also seen a huge upturn in the number of bus related RTAs, caused be driver fatigue. It's a well known fact that many bus drivers are supplementing their income by driving long shifts ironically working for Uber. TfL registered Prius can be spotted, parked up outside most bus garages. 

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Looks Like The Wheels Have Come Off Uber’s Operations On Another Continent

Uber now has massive concerns about the legality of its operations in South America. 

The chief executive of Uber Technologies Inc, Dara Khosrowshahi, will visit its operations in Brazil next week. 

The company told Reuters on Friday, that Brazil’s Congress nears a vote on legislation threatening Uber’s business model.

Khosrowshahi will visit Sao Paulo, Uber's biggest city by trips, and then onto Brasilia, the nation's capital, on Monday, according to a person familiar with the executive's plans.  

 

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Canary Wharf Sales Worker Sacked After Bilking Taxis To His Home Near Brighton.

A serial fare dodger has been sacked from his job after it was discovered that he had failed to pay for taxis from London to the south coast. 

Jake Dean, 24, who worked in sales in Canary Wharf, told cabbies that he worked for JP Morgan before setting off to Peacehaven, to the east of Brighton. 

He admitted that he had racked up more than £600 in unpaid fares but said it was ‘just impulsive’. 

Dean hailed a cab outside Waterloo train station in February and told the driver that he would get the £256 cash en route when he was closer to home. He told drivers that his card would not work so would offer to make a bank transfer or deliver the money to their address. 

On one occasion he said he would sell a games console so that he could pay the driver back. 

However, he failed to do so and ended up facing magistrates in Brighton. 

He told them: ‘I take full responsibility and apologise to the taxi drivers, they just wanted to do their job. It was never malicious, it was just impulsive.’ 

The court heard of three other taxi fare dodging incidents between December 2016 and February this year, where Dean strung drivers along promising payments. 

He told the court: ‘I was working in sales in Canary Wharf. 

Due to the fraud, I have lost my position. These four mistakes were my own fault and I am very sorry for what I’ve done.’ 

He was ordered to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work and told to pay £621.40 in compensation and costs

Source : Metro. 

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TfL Shoot Themselves In The Foot (Again) With Conflict Of Interest Over CC Clearance Interest Rate

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Here We Go Again, More Designed Chaos From TfL, The Borough Consultation.

TfL are proposing changes at the junction of Borough High Street with Marshalsea Road and Great Dover Street, in Southwark. 

The junction carries high volumes of traffic from Elephant and Castle and Bricklayers Arms towards London Bridge and Southwark Bridge. 

During the peak hours it can be heavily congested and this causes delays for the bus routes that use the junction, as well as for other road users. 

Borough Underground Station is located on the western corner of the junction, and there is high demand for pedestrian crossing points as a result. 

It has been the location of a high number of collisions, many of which involved pedestrians or cyclists.

TfL say they have looked closely at the issues and are now proposing a number of changes that are intended to make walking easier and safer and improve journey times, especially for the eight bus routes which pass through the junction.

To see what TfL are proposing, and have your say in this consultation, click link below 

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