According to San Francisco law, drivers for online ride-hailing services, such as Uber and Lyft, are now regulated under a policy that required them to register as a business and get a business license. The law applied to all independent contractors in the city.
The law says that all independent contractors operating San Francisco, including Uber and Lyft drivers, have to register as a business. According to Gizmodo, the process involves a fee of $91 per contractor, and also paperwork. The paperwork include background checks and others.
Once the license for a driver is given, he or she will have to continue to pay $91 annually for the license if the driver earns $100,000 or less in gross receipts. Also, drivers are required to retroactively pay the fee for the previous years they worked as a contractor without registering. If all 37,000 drivers comply with the requirement, the amount of cash generated from one payment would be $3.4 million.
The city is now sending official letters from the City Treasurer to all 37,000 drivers for Uber and Lyft operating in San Francisco area. San Francisco City Treasurer Jose Cisneros claimed that he already had the names of Uber and Lyft drivers after the two companies refused to provide the names and addresses of their drivers.
According to SFGATE, the policy will be concurrent with San Francisco's launch of its online business registration system in March. Previously, online business owners had already registered to the City Hall in person. Similarly, now independent contractors are also demanded to obtain the business registration license within 30 days upon receiving Cisneros' letter.
The letter also specifies that the failure to respond according to the requirements may result in penalties and payment obligation. Uber spokeswoman Laura Zapata had expressed the company's willingness to comply with the policy.
As for Lyft, the spokeswoman Chelsea Wilson said that the company is opposed to the plan. "People in San Francisco, who are choosing to drive with Lyft to help make ends meet, shouldn't have to compromise their privacy in order to share a ride," said Wilson, referring to the city's plan to collect the drivers' personal information in a public database.
San Francisco is not only the U.S. state pushing to regulate ride-sharing drivers. The Verge reported that several other state governments are considering or have already passed bills in that regard, classifying Uber and Lyft drivers as contractors.
Under a San Francisco law, Uber and Lyft drivers are now required to register as a business and pay $91 annually. The policy for independent contractors will be in operation along with the city's new online business registration system launched in March.
