Uber fined $7M for keeping info from California regulators

Uber’s California subsidiary was fined $7.3 million on Wednesday for refusing to give state regulators information about its business practices, including when its drivers turn down ride requests and how accessible vehicles are to disabled riders.

The fine was part of a ruling by an administrative law judge at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) which also called for Uber's suspension. The agency regulates ride-hailing companies in California, and as such allowed Uber and its competitors to operate in the state as long as the companies reported several aspects of their activities.

Uber has 30 days to pay the fine or lose its operating license in California, according to re/code. Uber said it will appeal the decision and there will be no suspension during the appeal process.

The ruling comes weeks after the California Labor Commission deemed Uber drivers employees, and on the same day the federal Department of Labor clarified that most independent contractors, such as Uber’s drivers, are, in fact, employees.

The CPUC gave all ride-sharing companies a deadline of September 2014 to provide the requested information. In a written statement, the utilities commission said Uber was the only company of its kind not to comply with the reporting requirements.

The judge agreed with utility commission staff who said Uber's California subsidiary, Rasier-CA, has not filed all required reports, specifically about how often it provided disabled-accessible vehicles, places where drivers tend to turn down ride requests, and the causes of accidents.

Uber's app allows passengers to request a ride directly from drivers in the area — and allows drivers to decline the request. The utilities commission wanted to see whether drivers are accepting fares evenly.

Attorneys for Rasier-CA had argued that the company provided sufficient information to the commission. The judge acknowledged that the company provided some of the contested information but said it was not enough.

The ruling said the company failed to provide “the number of rides requested and accepted within in ZIP code where it operates, and the numbers of rides that were requested and not accepted, as well as the amounts paid/donated.”

The company also failed to provide driver safety information and the cause of each driving incident involving one of its drivers, according to the ruling.

In a written statement, Uber spokeswoman Eva Behrend called the ruling and fine "deeply disappointing" and said the company would appeal.

"Uber has already provided substantial amounts of data to the California Public Utilities Commission, information we have provided elsewhere with no complaints," Behrend wrote, adding that submitting more detailed information could affect the privacy of passengers and drivers.

Marilyn Golden, senior policy analyst at the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund in Berkeley, praised the decision, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“This industry has done everything it can to avoid, dismiss and coerce themselves out of regulation, and this decision is welcome from that standpoint,” she said to the Times. “They've been scofflaws. They take every advantage and avoid every requirement.”

Uber has a record of tussling with public officials. In Portland, Oregon, for example it had an extended disagreement with the city that led it to suspend operations.  In New York City, it balked at providing driver vehicle license plate numbers and trip start/end times. In France, Uber suspended its low-cost service following an escalating legal dispute and sometimes-violent tensions with traditional French taxi drivers. French authorities had ordered the service — called UberPop — shut down, but Uber refused, pending a legal decision at a top French court. Germany banned the service.

Al Jazeera with The Associated Press