Uber problem

English

Etymology

Named after the American company Uber.

Proper noun

the Uber problem

1. (urban studies) In urban law and planning, the challenges facing municipalities when regulating major multinational transport network companies (TNCs).
   • 2016, Richard N. Aufmann, Joanne Lockwood, Richard D. Nation, Mathematical Excursions, page 101:

     Rather than examining why Uber is so popular to the detriment of the taxi service industry old guard, these traditional personal transport service providers have looked to government and legal intervention to solve the Uber problem.

   • 2018, Pedro C B de Paula and Rafael A F Zanatta, The Uber problem in São Paulo: challenges to experimental urban governance, 5th International & Comparative Urban Law Conference

     By focusing on the role of CMUV, a multi-departmental institution focused on the economic use of public goods in the City of São Paulo, we show that regulators moved beyond the Uber problem itself and institutionalized a complex system to deal with tech firms and issues of urban governance, mixing elements of economic law and urban mobility.

2. (business) (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) In entrepreneurship, the situation where a startup company lacks a profitable business model.