A Nevada board has adopted final regulations for ride-hailing companies, although there are still more steps before companies like Uber and Lyft are on the roads.
Michael Roberson has said lawmakers intended them to be operating by this summer, but officials from Clark County have said they want to pass their own ordinance requiring a local business license for such companies.
County business licensing officials said companies could apply after the ordinance is finalized, likely in October. Ride-sharing companies Uber and Lyft are preparing to enter the Las Vegas market. Within a day state lawmakers declared the taxi-like company in violation of Nevada law, and Uber halted its operations.
Clark County spokesman Dan Kulin said Friday that the county had no comment on the newly released legal opinion. Lyft is the only company that now allows tips.
Uber briefly operated in Nevada last fall, but a judge ultimately ordered it to stop because it wasn’t abiding by the laws governing taxis and limos.
The Nevada Transportation Authority met Friday to discuss and approve the detailed rules, which call for an administrative fee to fund regulators and enforcement staff. Other requirements were set, including requiring a decal placed on cars working for ride-hailing companies.
Among the critics of the regulations were attorneys representing limousine and taxi company interests.
Ride-hailing companies instead have a “zero-tolerance” drug and alcohol policy and say they suspend drivers in real-time when a passenger reports a driver who might be under the influence.
“It is the opinion of this office that, if a transportation network company has completed all of the requirements to obtain a business license from local governments which are of general applicability to all businesses within its jurisdiction, the local government may not withhold issuance of a business license to the company”, Erdoes said.
She said the regulations don’t address vehicle inspections by certified mechanics, routine vehicle maintenance standards, price gouging and predatory pricing, drug testing and denied transportation to disabled customers.