Uber has announced a Rs. 65 million donation to the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society to bolster relief and recovery efforts for communities affected by recent disasters in Sri Lanka.

“We stand in solidarity with the communities we serve, and our thoughts are with every family coping with loss, disruption and uncertainty in the aftermath of Cyclone Ditwah,” Uber said in a statement. 

Uber has donated Rs. 65 million to the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society to support relief and recovery efforts for affected communities. This cash contribution will enable the Red Cross team to procure and distribute dry-ration kits, life-saving medicines and essential care packages worth Rs. 30 million across affected regions. 

Additionally, over Rs. 17.5 million has been provided in free Uber rides for Red Cross teams during rescue and relief operations, and Rs. 17.5 million via Uber Eats to source groceries and essential supplies from local merchants for free delivery to impacted households.

Furthermore, to make it easier for the general public to participate in relief efforts, Uber has also partnered with the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) to support a public Donation Drive through which dry rations and essential goods can be sent to affected households at no cost.

“We are facilitating donation pick-ups in Colombo through the Uber app, with all items delivered to the central collection point set up by CMC at the Colombo Town Hall,” it said. Sri Lankans can participate in the donation drive by following these steps:

*For packages under 5 kg, choose ‘Courier Moto’. For packages between 5-25 kg, choose ‘Courier Auto’. All donation-related trips originating from Core Colombo to the collection point will be free of charge.

These latest efforts build on Uber’s ongoing collaboration with the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society, including prior joint work to support vaccination transport services, community relief drives during COVID, and providing emergency first-aid training to drivers to enhance safety on the platform. 

The partnership with CMC strengthens this commitment by enabling community participation and ensuring support reaches affected families quickly and efficiently.

With Cyclone Ditwah affecting many regions across the country, Uber said it remains committed to supporting immediate relief efforts and helping communities recover in the weeks and months ahead. (Newswire)

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Uber’s rival taxi operators will not have to pay 20% VAT on their profits outside London after a UK Supreme Court verdict in a long-running case.

The court ruled that private-hire operators do not enter into a contract with passengers, dismissing an Uber appeal. Private-hire firms declared the verdict to be a “triumph for the sector” after a three-year legal battle, which they had said could end with fares rising sharply for passengers.

Uber had brought the case after a 2021 supreme court decision that its drivers were workers, which had an impact on its tax and other obligations.

The company sought a declaration that private-hire taxi operators enter into a contract with passengers and the high court in London ruled in its favour in 2023.

That decision meant that operators would have to pay VAT at 20%, but the ruling was reversed by the court of appeal in July last year after a challenge by the private hire operators Delta Taxis and the platform Veezu.

Uber appealed to the supreme court, which on Tuesday unanimously dismissed the US company’s case.

The Veezu chief legal officer, Nia Cooper, said: “This decision is a triumph for the UK private-hire sector. The unanimous verdict ends a three-year legal battle and confirms that operators can continue to choose which business model they adopt to run their business.”

She said the outcome would protect passengers from threatened fare increases and lessen the burdens on licensing authorities. “Uber was seeking a declaration that would have resulted in 20% VAT being charged on all PHV fares,” she said.

“This ruling also shows that British-owned businesses can stand up against global giants that attempt to use litigation as a tactic to shape the sector to suit their business model.”

An Uber spokesperson said: “The supreme court ruling confirms that different contractual protections apply for people booking trips in London compared to the rest of England and Wales. The ruling has no impact on Uber’s application of VAT, which has been upheld twice by other courts.”

In a separate case, the Estonian ride-hailing and food-delivery startup Bolt this year defeated an appeal by the UK tax authority HMRC on what exactly it has to pay VAT on at 20%.

HMRC has since been granted permission to challenge the ruling that Bolt is only liable for VAT on its margin, rather than the full cost of the trip, at the court of appeal. (The Guardian)

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A complaint has been lodged with the National Police Commission regarding the harassment of three-wheeler taxi services by local three-wheeler drivers in tourist areas.

It is reported that the complaint claims that Police Officials have failed to take action regarding such incidents. 

As such, the National Police Commission has reportedly summoned the DIG of the Tourist Police Unit over the matter. 

Several complaints, especially from Down South and Kandy, have also been received on local three-wheeler drivers threatening drivers of three-wheeler taxi services, such as PickMe and Uber.

Preventing the three-wheeler taxi services from entering tourist areas, complaints also claim that local three-wheelers with meters were charging high prices to both tourists and locals. (Newswire)

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Opposition Leader MP Sajith Premadasa has highlighted the plight of small-scale taxi services due to the inclusion of the services of large-scale private taxi companies, such as PickMe and Uber, at the Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake. 

Speaking in Parliament today, MP Premadasa stated that the livelihoods of over 2000 small-scale taxi drivers have been severely affected due to this decision. 

MP Premadasa pointed out that small-scale taxi drivers are already suffering due to the impacts of the pandemic and economic crisis in Sri Lanka.

He further stated the latest decision by the government to allow private taxi services to operate at the airport has further affected the livelihoods of small-scale taxi drivers.

“Granting approval for such large-scale private taxi companies to operate at the Katunayake Airport is a wrong decision and unfair to small-scale taxi drivers,” he emphasized. 

MP Premadasa requested the authorities to safeguard the jobs of the over 2000 small-scale taxi drivers, when including the services of private taxi companies. 

He also requested the subject ministers to look into the matter and introduce a system that will protect the small-scale taxi drivers as well. (NewsWire)

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