Uber court cases see two men fined and banned from driving for a year
Freelancers for the US-based firm admit offering rides without required permit and insurance
Hong Kong has joined the growing list of places around the world in which drivers hired by the ride-hailing app Uber have fallen foul of the law for breaching licence and insurance regulations.
Two former Uber drivers were slapped with a HK$7,000 fine and one-year driving ban by Principal Magistrate Peter Law Tak-chuen at Kowloon City Court yesterday, despite one of them claiming that Uber had misled him over his insurance cover.
Law described Uber as a “well-organised network”.
Aaron Lam Man-lok and Walter Kwan Poi-chi were arrested along with five other drivers and seven non-driving Uber staff in undercover sting operations by police officers last summer.
Lam, 37, and Kwan, 63, each admitted using a car for hire without a permit and driving that vehicle without the specific third-party insurance required.
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The remaining five drivers are due to appear in court on February 24, and an Uber spokesman said most of them “intend to contest the charges in the months to come”.