HB 26-1043

HB 26-1043, also known as the "Transportation Network Company Discriminatory Practices" bill in Colorado, aims to strengthen penalties against ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft if their drivers refuse service based on discrimination. The bill increases fines from $550 to $5,000 for such violations without requiring prior written notice to the company. It also mandates that these companies report monthly instead of annually any instances where a driver refuses service and provides an easy way for riders to report such incidents directly through their apps. This bill has been signed into law, meaning it is now enforceable and will help monitor and penalize discriminatory practices in ride-sharing services more effectively.

Official Summary

Under current law, the public utilities commission (commission) may assess a civil penalty in an amount up to $550 against a transportation network company (TNC) if the TNC had written notice of a TNC driver's violation of certain prohibitions against discriminating against riders and the TNC failed to reasonably address the violation. Additionally, a driver is required to report to the TNC any refusal by the driver to provide services to a rider, and the TNC is required to annually report all such refusals to the commission.     The act removes the condition that a TNC first have written notice of a driver's violation of the discriminatory prohibitions before a civil penalty may be assessed against the TNC, increases the maximum civil penalty to $1,300, and requires the commission to consider certain mitigating and aggravating factors in determining whether to assess a civil penalty and the amount of a penalty assessed. The act also requires:A TNC to mandate and provide education to drivers concerning the transportation of riders with service animals;A TNC to provide monthly, rather than annual, reporting to the commission regarding drivers' refusal to provide services;A TNC to provide a mechanism to allow a consumer to report a driver's refusal to provide transport to the consumer directly on the TNC's digital platform, which information must be included in the TNC's monthly report; andThe commission to aggregate and anonymize the TNCs' monthly reports and make the anonymized reports available to the public.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

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