SAN FRANCISCO–The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) penalized Rasier-CA, an Uber Technologies subsidiary that provides Transportation Network Company (TNC) services through UberX, $7.6 million for the company’s failure to fully and timely comply with the CPUC’s reporting requirements. The CPUC also held Rasier-CA in contempt and imposed an additional $1,000 fine.
Rasier-CA has 30 days to pay the fine and penalty or its operating license in California will be suspended.
Today’s decision approves a Modified Presiding Officer’s Decision that was issued after consideration of an appeal that Rasier-CA filed on August 15, 2015, when a Presiding Officer’s Decision was issued penalizing the company $7.3 million. Rasier-CA filed an appeal, which triggered subsequent review by an Administrative Law Judge and led to the Modified Presiding Officer’s Decision approved today.
The Modified Presiding Officer’s Decision finds that Rasier-CA failed to provide the following required information to the CPUC in a full and timely fashion:
– Accessibility information: the number and percentage of customers who requested accessible vehicles, and how often the TNC was able to comply with requests for accessible vehicles (Reporting Requirement “g” in D.13-09-045).
– Service information: the number of rides requested and accepted by TNC drivers within each zip code where the TNC operates, and the number of rides that were requested but not accepted; as well as the amounts paid/donated (Reporting Requirement “j” in D.13-09-045).
– Driver safety information: the cause of each driving incident involving a TNC driver (Reporting Requirement “k” in D.13-09-045).
In adopting these reporting requirements, the CPUC intended to gather information necessary to its oversight of TNCs on behalf of the riding public: whether TNC services are being provided in a non-discriminatory manner enabling equal access to all, and whether TNC services are being provided in a manner that promotes public safety.
Rasier-CA and all licensed TNCs had one year from September 22, 2013, in which to comply with these reporting requirements. Rasier-CA did not fully comply with these reporting requirements until August 13, 2015. The penalty was increased from $7.3 million to $7.6 million to account for an additional 28 days from the initial Presiding Officer’s Decision, on July 15, 2015, until Rasier-CA fully complied with the reporting requirements, on August 13, 2015.
