Emerald Chamber of Commerce Inc

Australian business is getting more comfortable with Uber

Jamie Freed - May 25 2016 - 11:45PM

Corporate Australia is starting to take to Uber.
Businesses have become much more open to their employees hiring Uber drivers rather than taxis now the ride-sharing service has been legalised, according to one of Australia's biggest corporate travel agencies. One of the reasons: the strict driver-rating system on Uber provides more quality control than taxi drivers.

"People struggled with Uber when it wasn't legal," said Carlson Wagonlit Travel Australia and New Zealand managing director Lisa Akeroyd. "We have seen a lot of our corporate customers using Uber now it is legalised. They have seen an improvement in employee satisfaction [as a result]."

Ms Akeroyd said that having a record of the driver's contact details in the mobile app meant if an employee lost an item in an Uber car it was easier to recover than if it was lost in a taxi.

Uber was legalised in NSW in December, in a move that Uber Australia and New Zealand general manager David Rohrshiem said had doubled its adoption overnight. Last week a Melbourne UberX driver won an appeal against a conviction for operating a commercial passenger vehicle without a licence, a decision that effectively legalised the ride-sharing app in Victoria.

"We have seen an amazing take up [among corporate clients]," Ms Akeroyd said. She said analysis had shown that companies could save up to 40 per cent using UberX rather than taxis, even accounting for Uber's policy of "surge pricing" during high-demand periods.

Sydney Airport this month said it would create a dedicated ride-sharing pick-up zone near its domestic terminals from July 9, although it will charge drivers $4 to access the area while they wait for passengers.

Airbnb views shift

Ms Akeroyd said corporate customers were generally more open to their employees using Uber rather than Airbnb, which was viewed as being less aligned from a risk standpoint.

"They are taking a pretty firm stance, some of them, on Airbnb," she said.

Ms Akeroyd said at a recent industry conference, 31 per cent of the travel procurement managers in attendance said their company allowed for the use of Uber in their travel policies. But of those lacking a policy, all of them said the company was willing to reimburse employees for using Uber.

Ms Akeroyd said employer views on Airbnb were also beginning to shift. Investment bank Morgan Stanley in January said it would allow all employees to use Airbnb Business Travel as part of its corporate travel policy after staff expressed interest in using the service for business travel.

Ms Akeroyd said companies might look to make use of Airbnb at times when hotel occupancy was high and there was a shortage of rooms, such as during the Melbourne Cup Carnival or the Australian Open. Sydney and Melbourne both have high hotel occupancy that has pushed up room night rates.

This story has been brought to you by the Emerald Chamber of Commerce Inc.

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