Safety concerns raised over Uber cars in Singapore

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IANS | 04 Aug, 2017
Ride-hailing app Uber on Friday said it could have done more to pull unsafe cars off the road in Singapore, amid allegations it rented out faulty vehicles to drivers, the media reported.

The statement comes a day after a Wall Street Journal report said that Uber was aware of a April 2016 Honda Vezel recall when it purchased more than 1,000 Vezels that were then leased to drivers through its Singapore affiliate car-leasing company, Lion City Rental.

One of these cars caught fire in January, the report said.

In the statement to the BBC, Uber said: "As soon as we learned of a Honda Vezel from the Lion City Rental fleet catching fire, we took swift action to fix the problem." It did not provide details of what action was taken.

However, the firm said "we could have done more" to deal with the issue.

Uber said it had responded to six vehicle recalls since the beginning of the year.

The company has introduced "robust protocols and hired three dedicated experts in-house at Lion City Rental whose sole job is to ensure we are fully responsive to safety recalls", according to the statement.

Uber told the BBC that it has worked with Singapore's transport authorities to rectify the problem.

The San Francisco-based company has faced a string of controversies.

It continues to face legal challenges as it fights to repair a corporate image badly bruised by sexism and misconduct allegations.

Chief Executive Travis Kalanick resigned in June, bowing to pressure from shareholders in the wake of a series of sexual harassment complaints.

Uber has also breached local transport regulations in countries including South Korea and India.