“Uber has been directed to make improvements to its systems and my team has been working closely with them to ensure that those improvements are made,” commissioner Anthony Wing said in a statement. “Once the audit is closed, I will issue a statement highlighting Uber’s actions and improvements in response to the audit’s directions.”

Uber does not employ its drivers or own its fleet. Instead, drivers are classified as independent contractors and select their vehicles, whether owned, borrowed or rented.

As a result, Uber drivers have control over their schedules but are not entitled to a minimum wage and the company has less oversight of the cars and driving on its platform.

Figures from the audit documents show some drivers are working extensive hours on the platform, including a small percentage who are on the road for 17 hours a day. A sample of more than 11,000 shifts found 26 per cent of drivers had completed shifts of 12 to 13 hours. That includes time off the Uber platform, but the audit documents note that “79 per cent of offline times are for less than 30 minutes and divers are generally driving in their vehicle during the offline time”, suggesting they are driving for other apps or doing personal trips.

A separate sample of 31,828 drivers and their trip data showed 2189 were driving for Uber for at least 30 consecutive days while 458 of those drove 61 consecutive days — the entire tested period.

Loading

Uber’s spokeswoman defended the company’s fatigue practices, saying it believed it was the only operator in the industry to have a feature that logs drivers off for eight hours after they have been online for 12 cumulative hours without a break of at least eight hours. That is backed up with warning notifications and a reminder advising drivers who have been online across six consecutive days to consider taking an extended break.

“We are working with some of Australia’s best fatigue management experts to further develop our fatigue risk management policies and ensure they take into account the way driver-partners choose to fit Uber around their lifestyles,” the spokeswoman said.

Several of the issues identified in the report relate to vehicle maintenance. Auditors described Uber’s approach to vehicle maintenance as “reactive”, with the company relying on passenger incident reports to confirm if a vehicle has had maintenance completed or not.

One driver initially told audit staff he did not maintain his vehicle and had no records but then changed his story, saying a mechanic in Bondi looked after it. Audit staff visited the mechanic who said he had not completed maintenance work on the vehicle but had inspected it and told the driver it had multiple problems that would cost more to fix than the car was worth.

In all, of 16 vehicles inspected as a sample by the auditors, only five were conducting maintenance in line with the manufacturer’s standards. Seven were conducting lower levels of maintenance and five had no records of maintenance at all.

In NSW, all vehicles have to pass an annual pink slip inspection, Uber’s spokeswoman said. Vehicle problems are also a rare cause of accidents compared to driver speeding and distracted driving.

Loading

“Where Uber receives a report of a safety issue with a vehicle, such as in circumstances where the vehicle is involved in a crash, it automatically removes the vehicle’s access from operating on the platform,” Uber’s spokeswoman said.

But when Uber did identify an unsafe vehicle and removed it from one driver, the audit found it was not taken away from other drivers on their platform who might be using it for trips. “There is no process to check all driver profiles to ensure the vehicle is removed from the entire platform,” audit staff wrote.

Uber confirmed the problem was fixed in August 2020 after it was raised during the audit.

NSW Labor’s spokesman on the gig economy Daniel Mookhey, who worked for the Transport Workers Union before entering politics and sought the Uber documents under a parliamentary order, said the state government could not continue to leave the industry to write its own rules.

“Drivers will remain under immense pressure to stay on the road if their pay remains too low,” Mr Mookhey said. “The case for an independent tribunal with the power to set minimum standards is overwhelming.“

Nick McIntosh, national assistant secretary at Mr Mookhey’s former union, echoed his argument but pointed to the federal government as another culprit, arguing it should create an independent body to oversee the entire gig economy.

“This safety crisis is a direct consequence of the federal government’s do-nothing approach,” Mr McIntosh said. “It’s buried its head in the sand while the exploitation imported by these Silicon Valley behemoths rips drivers off fair pay and entitlements, forcing them to drive dangerously tired or cut corners on servicing and maintenance just to make ends meet.”

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.