In response to the potentially damaging accusations of sabotage from Lyft, Uber has turned the tables on their rival, arguing that lift has been guilty of the underhanded business practice.
In a recent statement, Uber claimed that Lyft employees have canceled 12,900 Uber trips. Uber reps believe this was a response to Uber’s reluctant consideration of acquiring Lyft.
In the statement, Uber added, “These attacks from Lyft are unfortunate but somewhat expected. A number of Lyft investors have recently been pushing Uber to acquire Lyft. One of their largest shareholders recently warned that Lyft would ‘go nuclear’ if we do not acquire them. We can only assume that the recent Lyft attacks are part of that strategy.”
Lyft rejected these accusations and pointed out that Lyft is expanding and doesn’t need a buyer. In a statement on Tuesday, Lyft replied, “Once again Uber is deceiving the public, now with false allegations and an attempt to deflect from their illegal cancel campaign. Lyft has more than 100 investors, all of whom are extremely excited that Lyft is approaching IPO-level revenue. Our ‘nuclear’ strategy is continuing to take market share with 30 percent month-over-month growth, while building the strongest community of drivers and passengers.”
READ ALSO: Uber Accused Playing Dirty in Competition With Lyft
Lyft has recently resumed charging commissions on rides for the first time in several months. They stopped taking a percentage of fare money to encourage drivers to join their services, but consequently haven’t pulled in any revenue since April. Lyft has grabbed a good portion of its “prime time” up-charge as well. Uber has been giving driver a dollar-per-ride bonus in hot spots like San Francisco. At the end of August, that will end and some drivers will be charged $10 to use their Uber iPhones.
Photo: John R. Coughlin/CNN
