Uber might have to hit the brakes in California.
The California Public Utilities Commission today (July 15) fined Uber $7.3 million for failing to comply with state reporting requirements for ridesharing companies. The San Francisco-based company has 30 days to pay the penalty or risk having its license suspended.
Uber said it will appeal the decision. This will allow it to continue operating until the commission’s board reviews the case and decides whether to change the fine, the suspension, or both.
Under a law passed in 2013, Uber is required to provide the commission with information about accessibility, driver safety, and service. The agency said Uber refused to report the cause of accidents involving its drivers, the number of customers who requested accessible vehicles, the number of rides requested and accepted in the zip codes it operates in, the number of rides that were not accepted, and the amount paid to drivers.
The commission, which also oversees Lyft and Sidecar, said Uber was the only ride-hailing company to miss the September 2014 deadline to provide the data it was asked for.
In a statement provided to Quartz, Uber said it ”has already provided substantial amounts of data to the California Public Utilities Commission.” The company says that providing more information could compromise the privacy of its drivers and that the requests go “beyond the remit of the Commission and will not improve public safety.” In October, the company also refused to provide trip data to New York’s Taxi and Limousine Commission. In that case, Uber appealed the decision, but lost and eventually complied.