Everyone used Uber mostly, and then they announced Lyft is the only approved one. Not sure why that decision was specifically made when majority were expensing Uber trips
There are plenty of companies that would be willing to have such a policy, even if it's not considered a common practice.
I tried Uber's Concur integration once, but our accounting people didn't like that I had a receipt in my expense report without a hardcopy... I ended up needing to print out the email receipt so someone else could scan it in.
Perhaps you're speaking more generally, and saying that you've never heard of shady decisions made by HR dudes? Well, I have heard of such decisions, and I doubt I'm alone.
Whoever is earning the rewards can earn quite a bit by choosing a higher priced options since it earns them more.
Preferred supplier relationships are common in corporate America, for example "all employees fly United unless United doesn't go there," or "all employee car rentals are with Avis unless Avis doesn't serve that airport," or "all employee computers are HP unless there is a special exception," etc.
State reason (by HR department) for not using Uber: risk of being raped.
Apparently not a problem with Lyft though, so that's good news?
"Unlimited free construction paper for use as toilet paper! Our gift to you! Take as much as you please!"
Even so, tell me again which is actually the crappy toilet paper in this comparison...
I use Lyft primarily because of the grossly offensive scandals surrounding Uber, I'm talking even from the early days when execs were caught bragging about threatening journalists, to sex abuse, to lying to everyone about their 6 blown red lights in a single week during self driving AI testing in SF. The services do the same thing, almost exactly; Uber's track record might as well be the deciding factor.