Uber revolutionised the concept of mobility as a service and became the first ride-hailing app that reached mainstream appeal. But in its path to expand all over the globe and corner markets, the company engaged in an aggressive campaign of exploitation, lobbying, bending regulations and abusing technology, reveals a trove of 124,000 documents obtained by The Guardian. Shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, the documents chronicle the startup's journey between 2013 and 2017, when controversial CEO and co-founder Travis Kalanick was at the helm.
2009
Kalanick and co-founder Garrett Camp found the company, then under the name of UberCab, in San Francisco a year after they got an idea for a ride-hailing app.
2010
The company launches its first cars in San Francisco, only to be hit with a cease-and-desist order. Kalanick becomes the first CEO of the company.
2011
The company launches its services in New York, other cities in the US, and France, facing a large deal of opposition.
2013
The company launches its services across 40 locations worldwide, including India which emerges as one of the fastest-growing markets for Uber.
2014
To work around legal issues and hurdles, the company signs MoUs across various Indian states while engaging in intense lobbying towards bureaucrats and politicians.
Uber starts facing legal and regulatory issues with Indian regulators like Consumer Forums, the Reserve Bank of India and the Service Tax Department, GST Department and the IT Department.
The company makes national headlines after an Uber cab driver allegedly rapes a rider in New Delhi in December.
The company promises to implement a host of safety features to prevent such incidences in the future. Nearly eight years later, the company still has not implemented those features in a manner that’s integrated with the Delhi Police, reports The Indian Express.
2015
The company uses a process called "Kill Switch” to protect itself during raids and probes. The process shuts down local computers and systems to prevent sensitive information from being handed to the authorities. The process is used 13 times, including once when a raid was underway and the local staff was acting to cooperate with authorities.
2017
Kalanick resigns as CEO after public reports of the company's unethical corporate culture, including his burial of sexual harassment allegations, surface.
2022
nearly 19 gigabytes of files are shared with the Guardian, consisting of records from 40 countries between 2013 to 2017 when Kalanick was at the helm.
