Under fire Uber getting some SC help

The San Francisco online ride-sharing company that is causing a storm among S.C. taxi companies and regulators is finding bipartisan legislative support of its efforts to keep operating legally in the Palmetto State.

The state Public Service Commission ordered Uber to stop picking up riders Thursday while regulators weigh the company’s request for a state taxi license.

But Uber drivers were defying the order with cars available Friday in the four S.C. cities where the company operates – Columbia, Charleston, Greenville and Myrtle Beach.

“We will challenge the order and remain committed to providing South Carolinians with greater opportunity and choice,” Uber spokesman Taylor Bennett said.

Company drivers can be ticketed by the state regulators for transporting passengers between cities or by local police for trips made within cities.

Officials in the four cities where Uber operates say they expect drivers to meet the same standards as taxi companies, but not all are actively enforcing the rules as they wait for what happens with state regulators.

Columbia said Friday that Uber’s service does not comply with city regulations because the company does not have state taxi permits. So its drivers could receive tickets, a city spokeswoman said.

Going against the demands of state regulators could hurt Uber’s aim of winning formal permission to operate in the state, a S.C. government official said.

“I (wouldn’t) want to be in the position of ignoring that order,” said Dukes Scott, executive director for the Office of Regulatory Staff, which represents consumer interests with utilities.

Uber requires riders to create an online account and request service from their smartphones or tablets from available nearby drivers. Uber has said it’s an electronic meeting place – not a cab company.

Lawmakers are hoping to help Uber, and Gov. Nikki Haley criticized the decision to have the company halt service.

Democrat state Rep. Leon Stavrinakis, D-Charleston, and state Sen. Kevin Bryant, R-Anderson, each said they are working on legislation to make ride-sharing services like Uber legal in South Carolina. Both lawmakers said they have used Uber.

“Charleston is quickly becoming the technology hub of the East Coast, and it’s unconscionable that this basic technology would not be available to residents and visitors,” Stavrinakis said.

Bryant said he liked how one Uber driver offered he and his wife bottled water during a visit to Charleston last summer.

“This is a choice for consumers to make, not government,” the senator said.

Haley wrote a letter to the Public Service Commission, saying the cease-and-desist order was “extremely disappointing.”

“Over the past four years, this administration, in concert with the General Assembly, has worked constantly to make South Carolina more business-friendly and limit government interference in the private sector,” the Republican from Lexington wrote. “Restricting our citizens’ rights to options and economic opportunities is massively detrimental to South Carolina. It is wrong, and, simply put, it is not who we are.”

But taxi companies are upset about Uber, which they say does not follow regulations to ensure passenger safety, such as proper criminal background checks of drivers.

“They’re not working with anybody. They’re operating without a permit,” said Dallas Ball, an attorney for Columbia’s Checker Yellow Cab Co., which has opposed Uber’s state permit request. “It’s like, ‘If we get the certificate, we might follow the rules. If not, we’re going to do whatever we want.’ ”

Ball said Uber has dragged its feet in gathering evidence for the state license hearings. A Public Service Commission hearing scheduled for Jan. 26 has been postponed indefinitely.

“Uber is asking the PSC, ‘Just trust us,’ ” Ball said.

Checker Yellow Cab general manager Peyton Greene said he has no problems with Uber as long as its drivers play by the same state and local rules as other taxi companies.

“We are not against competition; we just want everyone to follow the regulations,” Greene said.

Uber has said it screens the backgrounds of drivers and provides them some insurance.

The Public Service Commission decision came after a letter this week from the state Office of Regulatory Staff saying Uber had started its ride-sharing services last July.

An Office of Regulatory Staff consumer director also testified late last month that Uber began operating last summer, and that the agency had issued warnings to some drivers.

“It’s public knowledge,” said Scott, the regulatory staff head. “I would be surprised (Public Service commissioners) did not know about it.”

But the Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities, cable companies, limousine service and taxis, did not determine whether Uber was operating at all in South Carolina when it decided to ask the company to stop service, according to a transcript of the hearing Thursday.

At this point, it is not necessary to make a finding of fact that (Uber) is or is not operating,” PSC Commissioner Elliott Elam said at the meeting. “It is only necessary (Uber) be held to the same standard as every other applicant.”

In asking for the cease-and-desist order, Elam said: “Consumers benefit from and deserve choices in the marketplace. However, those choices must be consistent with state law intended to protect the public.”

Public Service commissioners cannot discuss pending cases, agency administrator Jocelyn Boyd said.

This story was originally published January 16, 2015 at 4:23 PM with the headline "Under fire Uber getting some SC help."