He said that though it met or exceeded many standards that govern transportation companies — screening drivers and tracking customer satisfaction, for example — it was different.
Prosecutors in San Francisco and Los Angeles alleged that it was false for Uber to say it was the leader in screening drivers when its background checks were inferior to the process taxi drivers undergo, since Uber does not include fingerprint checks.
Status: ongoing Uber targets its marketing toward women who have been drinking, but fails to protect them by routinely hiring people with criminal histories and inadequately screening drivers, according to one lawsuit filed in US district court in San Francisco.
This is also not the first time Uber has come under fire for failing to adequately screen drivers.
And a couple of incidents, including a rape in Delhi, raised issues around how well it screens drivers before putting them on the road.
Take ridesharing behemoths Uber and Lyft's recent showdown over whether to impose fingerprint background checks when screening drivers in Austin, Texas — one of the country's fastest-growing technology hubs.
What is the best way to screen drivers?
Mathur said that under state transport laws, the taxi company is responsible for screening drivers.
A Lyft representative told me the company uses the firm Sterling BackCheck, which screens drivers using a social security number trace, a county criminal record check, an enhanced nationwide criminal search, and a Department of Justice sex offender search.
