Court affirms right to ridesharing in Pennsylvania
Friday, April 22, 2016
A panel of judges has unanimously affirmed that ridesharing services have the right to operate in Pennsylvania. The decision comes after a group of taxi companies had filed suit against the state’s Public Utility Commission, which last year gave a temporary two-year operating license to an Uber subsidiary, Rasier-PA LLC. The taxi operators argued that Uber did not meet the PUC’s standards for safety, insurance coverage and cost effectiveness.
Screenshot of Uber app
UBER GOES TO COURT: Taxi companies argued that Uber did not meet the PUC’s standards for safety, insurance coverage and cost effectiveness. A unanimous panel of judges in the Commonwealth Court said Tuesday those arguments were without merit.
Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer, who wrote the opinion issued Tuesday, said those arguments were without merit.
“The PUC concluded that the criminal background checks and driving history record review proposed by Raiser exceeded the requirements of its regulations,” Jubelier wrote. “Given the record and the PUC’s placement of additional requirements on Raiser’s operations, we conclude that there is substantial evidence to support the PUC’s finding.”
The Commonwealth Court also found that Uber’s subsidiary company had met or exceeded PUC standards for insurance coverage and that the PUC did not overstep its legal authority when it granted the temporary permission slip last year.
“We are encouraged by the court’s decision,” Jason Post, a spokesman for Uber, told Watchdog in an email. “We hope the legislature will give Pennsylvanians access to Uber and services like it by acting on ridesharing regulations that cover the entire Commonwealth, including Philadelphia.”
An attorney for the taxi companies told The Legal Intelligencer that his clients were considering their options for an appeal. Any appeal would go to the state Supreme Court.
READ MORE: Legalizing ride-sharing in Philly is about economic opportunity
The court battle is one part of a multi-front war being waged by Pennsylvania taxi services against Uber and other ridesharing services.
Taxi companies have persuaded the Philadelphia Parking Authority to ban ridesharing. The PPA has even run sting operations to catch illegal Ubers in the city.
The PUC has authority over taxi and ridesharing in the entire state, except in Philadelphia, where the PPA gets to write the rules. The PUC’s temporary authorization for ridesharing companies is set to expire in 2017.
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