November 17, 2015
A state agency wants to fine the ride-sharing service Uber for millions of dollars for disregarding its authority.
According to the Associated Press, two judges with the Public Utility Commission have rejected Uber's claim that they are simply a software company and don't impact the public at large.
The proposal aims to hit the company with a whopping $50 million fine for operating during a six month period between February and August of 2014 before getting experimental authority, "deliberatly" disobeying a ceast-and-desist order. Here's what the judges wrote, per AP:
"Uber took a more active role in providing transportation service than simply providing the Uber app for people with cars to use to provide rides for people who need transportation - it was not a disinterested invisible entity in the background."
The propsed fine will now have to be approved by the PUC. Uber argued that it gave "needed" transportation alternatives and that they thought they were fine under a broker license, but the judges said the company's emergency authorization they needed wasn't obtained until a large number of trips had already been arranged, AP reports.
Read more from the Associated Press here.
