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Problems for the ride sharing industry continue as Uber, Lyft and Sidecar were issued warnings by the District Attorneys of Los Angeles and San Francisco. Prosecutors have warned the ridesharing services that the driver background checks information listed on their websites is misleading and the company’s ride fare splitting services are illegal.
In a letter sent to Sidecar, the District Attorneys allege “misleading representations on Sidecar’s website that lead consumers to believe that Sidecar’s background check screens out drivers who have ever committed driving violations, DUI, sexual assault and other criminal offenses;” and “Calculating Sidecar’s ‘Share Ride’ services fares on an individual-fare basis” are a violation of California state law. Similar letters were sent to ridesharing service Uber and Lyft.
The DA offices of Los Angeles and San Fransico, which conducted a joint investigation, have threated to seek an injunction and civil penalties if Sidecar, Lyfy and Uber don’t meet with the prosecutors before October 8th to discuss how they will change their operations.
“We strongly disagree with the assertion by San Francisco and Los Angeles County District Attorney Office’s that connecting people for Sidecar shared rides is illegal,” said Sidecar CEO Sunil Paul said in a statement. “The district attorneys are trying to enforce laws written for limousines, in an era before smartphones.”
Sidecar’s website says the company conducts background checks on all its drivers. However, by state law employers are only able to review and consider criminal records seven years back. The DA’s office believes that by not explicitly stating the seven-year extent of their background checks, ridesharing services are misleading consumers.
That allegation seems pretty thin. And it appears to be a standard that city is not applied equally to taxi services. A review of the websites of Independent Taxi of Los Angeles and Culver City Yellow Cab make no mention of backgrounds checks, even though they are required and likely conducted by those two companies. Threatening Uber, Lyft and Sidecar with a shutdown because they omitted the phrase “background checks only cover the last seven years” is an overreach.
Also, opposition to ride sharing features puts California officials in a tricky spot. Carpooling is encouraged by the state to reduce pollution and congestion; it also is popular amongst voters. Restricting carpooling because of an outdated technicality may not go-over well with the consumers the state claims to protect.
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