Lyft accuses Uber of vicious business practices

The up-start transportation service companies Uber and Lyft appear to be locked in a dishonest battle for market dominance all around the world.

CNN Money reports that employees for Uber have ordered and cancelled 5,560 ride requests from Lyft since October 2013. By requesting and then canceling rides, Uber essentially tried to drive more demand to its service by making Lyft drivers unavailable.

Both services operate on a system whereby private car owners provide rides. The false requests leave those owners in a tight spot, because they turn down opportunities for work while also expending gas on a ride that never happened.

Lyft also alleges that Uber employees will request short and unprofitable rides as a way to take Lyft drivers out of the market.

CNN Money says the practice appear to be condoned or promoted by Uber's corporate heads. For example, one Uber employee alone seems to account 1,524 cancelled rides. From May 26 to July 10, that employee ordered and canceled 300 rides. That employee also maintained 21 different Lyft accounts in order to game the system.

A different Uber employee has been linked 102 cancellations.

This is not the first time Uber has come under fire for this tactic. In New York City, Uber employees cancelled 100 rides for a different company, Gett, in a three-day period.

After that incident, Uber said that it would restrain itself, but CNN Money notes that nearly 5,500 cancellations have taken place since that statement.

Uber has also been accused of lying about certain governmental regulations in order to stop drivers from working for more than one ride share service. CNN Money reports that last month, when Lyft entered the New York City market, Uber sent text messages to its drivers telling them that they could not work for both Lyft and Uber because of New York City regulations.

The city agency responsible for regulating taxis and limousines has said that this is not true.