Uber may face $1 million fine over drunken-driving complaints

PanARMENIAN.Net - Uber's popular ride-sharing network has repeatedly failed to promptly suspend and investigate its California drivers when passengers report them driving drunk, state regulators charged in an enforcement action, recommending $1.13 million in fines, Reuters reports.

The consumer protection arm of the California Public Utility Commission found Uber Technologies Inc has violated "zero-tolerance" rules governing drunken-driving complaints on 151 occasions over the course of a year, out of 154 complaints reviewed.

In only 21 of those cases did the company conduct any follow-up driver investigation, the commission inquiry found.

The recommended fine for alleged violations is believed to mark the first such citation issued against the San Francisco-based ride-hailing network or its competitors since the rules were adopted in 2013.

The enforcement action follows a recent consumer backlash against the company and its senior management over a series of revelations about its corporate culture and business tactics, including complaints of sexual harassment.

The drunken-driving findings, which stem from a review of passenger complaints lodged between August 2014 and August 2015, were contained in a nine-page investigative order issued by the commission's Consumer Protection and Enforcement Division on Tuesday.

Those charges and the proposed penalty are now subject to examination by an administrative law judge who will conduct further proceedings before recommending to the five-member commission itself what action, if any, should be taken against the company.