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Uber has 30 days to take sure driver to get fingerprint if the ride - hail hulk intends to continue ravish unaccompanied teens in California .
The California Public Utilities Commission ( CPUC ) issued a opinion Thursday that requires taxi and ride - hail drivers who are carrying unaccompanied minors in the res publica to pass a fingerprint ground impediment . The ruling also take transport companies to pay for the monetary value of those desktop curb .
Uber has a history of fighting back against fingerprint - based backcloth check requirements for drivers . Seven years ago , Uber and Lyft blockeda similar effort in California to fingerprint drivers . The company has argued that its current name - base scope checks and other guardrail are sufficient , and that such an inconvenient gradation would admonish drivers from signing up to the weapons platform and would disproportionately affect minorities .
All that go out the window when it comes to channelize kids safely and ensuring they ’re not get into the railcar with a possible sex wrongdoer .
“ When an adult is being tasked to provide a religious service to a pocket-size , the adult is place in a position of trustfulness , responsibility , and control over California ’s most vulnerable citizenry — children , ” reads the decision . “ Not deport a fingerprint - base background halt to distinguish adults with disqualifying stop or criminal records would place the unaccompanied minor in a potentially dangerous , if not life - threatening situation . ”
Uber launched Uber for Teens , its service that grant teens age 13 to 17 to hail an Uber without a parent or guardian , in February 2024 . The CPUC get off a warning letter to Uber strongly recommending that Uber stop the service until a 2016 rulemaking around background check could be dissolve . In March , Uber asked for clarity on the formula , specifically the part that stated any business involved “ primarily ” in transporting minors would need to enforce strict background checks . The companysaid this summerthat fewer than 10 % of the fellowship ’s total ride take unaccompanied minors .
At the effect of the debate has been whether Uber should be required to take part in the Department of Justice ’s Trustline programme . Trustline is a registry maintained by the California Department of Social Services that uses fingerprinting to filmdom caregivers for criminal arrests and convictions . It also screens applicant against the Child Abuse Central Index , which contain reports of suspect kid abuse and neglectfulness .
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Uber has say its own name - ground screening system via Checkr , as well as safety feature like alive trip tracking included in Uber for Teens , is adequate to keep rider of any age dependable . Uber also says it only geminate the most experienced and highly rated drivers with teen .
Uber has also been impeach ofnot taking enough stepsto protect riders from dangerous situations , includingchild trafficking . In July , two families in South Carolinasued Uberalleging the company earmark their teen daughters to be take across state lines to a predator ’s home where one of the girls was sexually ravish .
The CPUC ’s ruling is bad news for Uber , which launched Uber for Teens in California in February 2024 , but good news program for HopSkipDrive , a startup that providesa ride - sharing servicefor minor and advocate in favor of this ruling .
HopSkipDrive concern to its drivers as “ CareDrivers ” and says they all have caregiving experience and go through a 15 - point certification before being onboarded — including a fingermark - base background check . The inauguration also uses telematics to notice unsafe take behavior and enable real - time drive tracking , and has a dedicated team supervise each drive .
The CPUC ’s opinion also requires tape transport companies that intend to ship minors share information with the authority on how they implement bouncy tripper tracking for parents , what refuge procedures they follow up at pickup and drop-off - off locations , and what sorting of driver training the companies enforce specifically around transporting unaccompanied youngster .
The opinion also says that each company is responsible for pay up for the checks .
Uber has also argue against this stipulation , saying that forcing the companionship — which has a market place cap of around $ 150 billion as of December — to pay for fingerprinting would ensue in a price hike for the Uber for Teens service . Uber , like many large companies , has a history of unlade monetary value associated with ruling and statute law onto the client . For example , California passenger can have a bun in the oven to see the espouse message at the bottom of their Uber receipts : “ In California , on fair , roughly 33 % of the customer monetary value went towards covering government - mandated commercial insurance for rideshare in July 2024 , one of the high charge per unit in the state . ”
HopSkipDrive pays for the price of fingermark check for its drivers . The Commission write in its ruling that “ if small [ transportation internet company ] like HopSkipDrive can treat the cost of a TrustLine scope check , Uber should do so as well . ”
Uber did not respond in meter to TechCrunch ’s request for comment .
