Uber and Lyft Quit in California to Avoid Obligations

With California deciding that Uber and Lyft drivers should be treated as employees, the two ride providers are discontinuing operations there.

The state of California took it to court last week that Uber and Lyft should treat their drivers as employees rather than self-employed. That is, they are entitled to overtime, health insurance, and other benefits that can cost Uber and Lyft a lot of money.

Uber, with revenues of $ 14.15 billion in 2019, and Lyft ($ 3.6 billion in revenue), believe that such a measure will cost them too much money, which is why it will be discontinuing its operations in California starting Thursday evening. Services, as stated in a communication circulating on Twitter.

In fact, that is to say, that the companies are not only refusing to meet their legal, social obligations, but they are also putting tens of thousands of people working for the company without income at a time when the US is still severely hit by the corona pandemic.

Lyft and (especially) Uber have succeeded in severely disrupting the taxi industry over the past ten years. Still, outside the US, it has long been faced with local legislation that states that people who earn a significant portion of their income through Uber are also entitled to have on social protection.

Uber is always of the opinion that it merely supplies the software platform, even if the taxi service itself determines matters such as the price of the rides.