Uber presents challenge for Jackson to regulate
Published 11:30 am Thursday, June 18, 2015
- Uber drivers and their supporters protest in front of the offices of the Taxi and Limousine Commission in New York, Thursday, May 28, 2015. Uber and Lyft are pushing back against a New York City effort to regulate app-based car services. The proposal before the Taxi and Limousine Commission would require car services that riders can summon with their phones to comply with many of the rules that govern the yellow cabs they compete with. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Ride-hailing services that allow people to request rides using smartphone apps may be outside the authority of local governments.
Jackson taxi companies and drivers want the city to regulate Uber. Council member Melvin Priester Jr. said Wednesday the city is hampered in regulating Uber because it is basically an Internet-based business.
The Clarion-Ledger reports (http://on.thec-l.com/1Lkk2vh) the city began looking at changes to its ordinance after Uber began operating in Jackson in December. The city currently has no regulations or ordinance dealing with ride-booking services.
Uber is a mobile application that connects people who are seeking rides with drivers. The app has a calculator that estimates fares for riders. The company continues to grow despite myriad legal challenges over regulations, insurance and unfair competition.
Priester said any effective regulations dealing with services like Uber will come from the state or federal government.
“No effective regulation is going to come from the city,” he said.
Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Willie Simmons, D-Cleveland, said a bill dealing with Uber will come before the 2016 Legislature.
Simmons said a bill was filed this year in the legislature, but didn’t make it out of committee because of disagreement between Uber and insurance officials about when coverage would begin on Uber vehicles.
“We like the idea of having Uber, but we want them and the insurance industry to work out the gray areas and come back to us,” Simmons said. “We will look at it next year, but there is no guarantee something will pass.”
Uber’s local coverage area includes Jackson, Ridgeland, Flowood and Pearl.
Councilman Tyrone Hendrix, chairman of the council’s rules committee, said regulating Uber and a proposed ordinance to reduce the number of vehicles required to operate a taxicab company in the city from eight to four or fewer are pending.
