Background checks of Uber drivers not extensive enough - prosecutors

California prosecutors accused Uber, the leading ridesharing service in the world, to have placed customers' lives at risk by not extensively doing background checks on their drivers and allowing criminals to work for them.

Los Angeles and San Francisco prosecutors say they have discovered 25 people who have criminal backgrounds including sex offenders, an identity thief, and a murderer. They accused that the company's checking process of criminal backgrounds is full of "systemic failures".

In a complaint written by the prosecutors, they mentioned that a kidnapper, burglars, and sex offenders have all passed Uber's background check. A leading company in the industry should have done a better job, they said. The prosecutors are seeking for penalties against Uber.

After being caught on other violations while employed in Uber, the drivers' criminal backgrounds were then discovered.

This shouldn't be the case since Uber would like to make their clients believe that they are doing all that they can to guarantee safety and one of these is checking their drivers' criminal history, the complaint further said.

The misrepresentation brought by Uber can be unsafe especially that parents are sending their teenagers alone with their drivers.

Uber says that they do not agree with the prosecutors' conclusion. Although they agree with the DAs that safety is a priority, they do not agree that the process used by other taxi companies is better than their system of background screening, the company said. They added that they are hopeful in resolving the issue, observing that a similar case happened to another ridesharing company Lyft.

Uber's drivers are treated as independent contractors and usually the company has fewer obligations compared to regular taxi companies.

Uber has grown big over the years, reaching a valuation of around $50 billion but is recently boycotted, criticized and not to mention faced legal action in different parts of the world. Several drivers around California are also seeking charges for not being treated as employees of the company, not receiving incentives and benefits.