Uber’s dust up with regulators continued on Wednesday when the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) hit the ride-hailing company with a $7.3 million fine for skirting state laws designed to ensure passengers are treated fairly. A CPUC judge said Uber had not provided sufficient data to determine if the company was meeting these requirements, a violation of the 2013 law that allowed Uber to operate in the state.
“[The] requirements include reporting how many requests for rides the company has received from people with service animals or wheelchairs; how many of those rides were completed; and other ride-logging information such as date, time and zip code of each request, plus the fare paid,” according to the Los Angeles Times. Uber was the only ride-hailing company not to turn over the required data, the CPUC said in a statement.
“Uber’s license to operate in California will be suspended in 30 days, unless the company files an appeal or a CPUC commissioner requests a review,” according to the Times. The ban will then continue until Uber “complies fully with the outstanding requirements,” administrative law judge Robert Mason wrote in his decision. “[Providing more data] risks compromising the privacy of individual riders as well as driver-partners,” Uber said in a statement to Recode. “These CPUC requests are also beyond the remit of the commission and will not improve public safety.”
An Uber spokesperson said the company will appeal.
Correction, July 17, 2015: This post originally misstated that Karen V. Clopton was the California Public Utilities Commission administrative law judge who ruled against Uber; judge Robert Mason handed down the decision.
