Sussex wrote:
Quote:
But remember all the stuff about using Autocab operators to cover jobs booked using the Uber app...
But that isn't really a competition issue.
Uber are passing work on (albeit for a commission) they are not taking it from anyone. No different from one firm passing work to another when they can't cope with demand.
In fact Uber are, in my view, allowing more competition by putting non Uber vehicles on their app.
That's certainly a plausible view - Uber were quite upfront about how the deal would get them into markets where they don't currently have a presence, such as Aberdeen.
So now effectively there's an additional provider in Aberdeen, thus good for competition and the consumer
Not saying I know the software market too well, but never really saw an issue in the 'supply of software', which is what the CMA looked at, but which I doubt Uber were ever really interested in anyway.
Which is why I thought they might look at the issue from the perspective of supply and demand at the passenger and driver level, ie a totally different market to the one they actually looked at, which was about supply and demand from software providers to cab operators.
But which, as you say, could have positive and negative affects as regards competition issues. For example, it lowers the 'barriers to entry' for Uber in the likes of Aberdeen, which I suspect the CMA would regard as good news.
But if Uber used an Autocab tie up to further dominate a market then that could be bad for competition, particularly from the driver's perspective if Uber increasingly became their only option, as is generally bad for drivers if there are few operators in their local area.
That's just a couple of examples, but we'll never know now, because obviously the CMA don't think that side worth examining. And, of course, historically the authorities have never shown much interest in that side of things anyway (possibly because each market is very local and to that extent there are hundreds, if not thousands, therefore probably not worth getting into).
So I agree and disagree on the competition point. But I certainly disagree when you say: "Uber are passing work on...they are not taking it from anyone."
If they're getting work in areas where they currently don't operate then they must be taking work from existing operators. And it would only snowball from there...
I'm not an operator (obviously!) and Uber has zero presence here. But I think local firms elsewhere would be cutting their own throats by covering Uber bookings with their own cars, thus providing Uber with an easy way into local markets they currently have no presence in.
It's a bit like the app version of what Grandad and Edders are talking about in another thread - drivers and other offices covering work and offering cheaper fares to poach customers.
I mean, cab firms generally avoid passing on work like the plague, because they know what might happen.
But to me this seems more or less what Uber are up to, just on an epic scale and using an app instead of the good old dog and bone.