Lyft, other ride-share companies in compliance with state regulations
Unlike Uber, other ride-sharing services such as Lyft are in compliance with regulations and do not face fines or potential suspensions.
Lyft and other ride-sharing companies are in compliance with California regulations, a judge said in a ruling that recommended Uber face a multimillion-dollar fine and suspension.
In her decision Wednesday, Chief Administrative Judge Karen V. Clopton of the California Public Utilities Commission used Lyft and other online ride-sharing companies as examples to dispute Uber’s claim that providing trip data would be “unduly burdensome, cumulative, and overly broad.”
State reporting requirements include the number of requests for rides from people with service animals or wheelchairs; how many of those rides were completed; and other ride-logging information such as date, time, ZIP Code and fare paid.
Clopton contended that Uber’s refusal to provide such data was in violation of a 2013 law that legalized ride-hailing firms.
In the decision, Clopton said Uber’s claims are “suspect” when similar ride-sharing companies “had no difficulty meeting the reporting deadline.”
In November 2014, a CPUC ruling asked UberX and Lyft to explain why they should not face penalties for allegedly violating some of the reporting requirements.
Lyft “eventually” complied with the requirement to report ride information by ZIP Code that same month, Clopton noted in her decision.
Juan Matute, associate director of the UCLA Lewis Center and the Institute of Transportation Studies, said ride-sharing services have become an integral part of some people’s daily lives.
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“As a state, I think we’re more reliant on these services than we could have imagined when they didn’t exist,” he said. “Now, it’s one of those difficult balances that has to be achieved between the things that serve us and making sure they are serving us in a safe, equitable manner.”
Uber has 30 days to appeal the decision, which the company said it will do. Any suspension would not go into effect until an appeal is heard.
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