[themagician]

They pay for some additional insurance. They don't require drivers to carry commercial insurance. They don't require drivers to get passenger carrier permits. They don't really have to follow or comply with any of the other regulations imposed by the CPUC or things that plague the taxi and limo industry.

All of these things have costs. Uber didn't remove the inefficiencies from the system, they just ignored the laws that cause them. I too can remove "inefficiencies" from my bottom line by not paying my taxes, right?

I love Uber. I love that's it's on demand. I love that it's cheaper. But if you recall the time before UberX—when their was only black car service and all drivers had to have Passenger Carrier Permits, commercial insurance, and comply with CPUC rules and regulations—it WASN'T cheaper. The minimum was $15 a ride. SF to Sausalito was $80.

Uber started with a great premium service that was compliant with the law and fixed a real problem. Uber expanded by saying, "We need to grow. Fast. The law no longer applies to us."

[superuser2]

>They don't require drivers to get passenger carrier permits. They don't really have to follow or comply with any of the other regulations imposed by the CPUC or things that plague the taxi and limo industry.

Uber enforces the paperwork requirements of each (product type, geofence) permutation. Why would it require something like a Passenger Carrier Permit, if local law does not require it?

If you RTFA, you'll notice that the issue is failure to hand over trip data and GPS logs. Regualators allegedly want them to make sure disabled people and people with service animals are not discriminated against, but I'd be stunned if that's all the data was used for once it fell into government hands.

[HappyTypist]

Uber doesn't require drivers to carry commercial insurance, because they already provide commercial insurance.

    Uber maintains commercial automobile insurance that covers U.S. partner drivers that operate under the “Ridesharing” or “Transportation Network Company” (“TNC”) model through Uber’s TNC subsidiaries, Rasier LLC and its affiliates.(1)

http://newsroom.uber.com/2015/01/certificates-of-insurance-u...

Most of us sees a purpose in paying tax. But, say example, you made an app that files your taxes just like an agent. You could call it TurboTax and sell it, and save $100s of dollars for tax filers. You provide insurance so that if your app does something wrong, you will reimburse people who get penalised.

[FireBeyond]

I think it's disingenuous (of Uber, not you) to tout this and -not- note that it's third-party and UI/UM only.

[themagician]

Yeah, they provide this now, after getting slapped. And even still it has gaps.

The point is, the law has always been: if you drive commercially, you need commercial insurance. This is what keeps most people from driving commercially.