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Uber loses licence to operate in London, will still operate while appealing

(www.bbc.com)
256 points reubensutton | 6 comments | 25 Nov 19 10:19 UTC | HN request time: 0.026s | source | bottom
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thinkindie ◴[25 Nov 19 14:49 UTC] No.21628527[source]▶
have you ever wondered what makes services like Uber affordable? 1) underpaid drivers 2) VC money dropped into an otherwise unsustainable business

I'm pretty sure Uber will raise prices the moment it kills the competition

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ApolloFortyNine ◴[25 Nov 19 15:05 UTC] No.21628683[source]▶
> underpaid drivers

This is and always will be a matter of opinion.

Uber is not putting a gun to anyone's head. If it's not profitable for you to drive, you don't have to.

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criddell ◴[25 Nov 19 15:17 UTC] No.21628785[source]▶
Since drivers can't set their own rates, I've always felt the government should regulate the split. Uber's portion should be capped at something like 5%. The marginal cost for them to connect a driver to a rider is close to 0 so even 5% feels very generous.
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1. ekianjo ◴[25 Nov 19 15:32 UTC] No.21628953[source]▶
That's not the job of the government to regulate margins of businesses. If you go by that way, then you might as well regulate every margin of every app store?
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2. Endy ◴[25 Nov 19 15:38 UTC] No.21629014[source]▶
A great idea.
3. criddell ◴[25 Nov 19 15:41 UTC] No.21629033[source]▶
At least in the US, they do it all the time. The job of the government is mostly to do what we tell it to do because the government is just people from the community.
4. cartoonworld ◴[25 Nov 19 15:46 UTC] No.21629099[source]▶
That is the governments job.

They aren't regulating an app on the store, they would be in this hypothetical scenario regulating the labor practices of a multinational corporation, which is for sure the job of any government.

5. buboard ◴[25 Nov 19 15:58 UTC] No.21629265[source]▶
Thats what taxation does anyway
6. lmm ◴[25 Nov 19 19:55 UTC] No.21632102[source]▶
The government should (and does) regulate the margins of natural monopolies like utilities where a free market can't operate effectively.