A US driver accused of sexually assaulting an Uber passenger was not authorised to drive for the ride-sharing company, the company says.
San Francisco-based Uber has come under scrutiny over its driver screening process, including from prosecutors in California who filed a lawsuit in December accusing Uber of exaggerating how comprehensive its background checks are.
Uber said Maxime Fohounhedo was driving under an account created in his wife's name in violation of Uber's rules prohibiting account sharing. Prosecutors say he used his own photo and phone number on the account.
Uber spokeswoman Jennifer Mullin couldn't immediately explain how that discrepancy could have been missed during the application process or despite what she said were Uber's "regular re-checks" of driver photos.
"We do our best to send drivers though our background check process, which far exceeds what's expected of taxis," she said. "But there is also a responsibility for the rider to make sure that when they get into an Uber that they're checking the licence plate and they're checking the driver's face and making sure all that matches up."
In this case though, such scrutiny by the rider might not have helped because Fohounhedo's own photo would have shown up on the user's smartphone, Mullin acknowledged.
The Uber app allows smartphone users to search for rides from regular taxis, limos and private individuals such as Fohounhedo who use their own vehicles in an arrangement known as ride-sharing.
Fohounhedo was arrested on Sunday and has been charged with sexual assault in an alleged attack in November.
Fohounhedo would not have been eligible to drive for Uber in Chicago, where regulations require ride-share applicants to have held a licence for at least a year.
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