Despite mounting opposition, the House Public Safety Committee passes a bill to regulate rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft.
The two are among a growing number of technology-based companies that contract with local drivers to transport people worldwide. A credit card is placed on file with the operation, and the customer merely makes a request for a ride via an app on his smart phone.
The measure by Rep. Alan Powell (R-Hartwell), who also chairs the committee, would treat the companies as limousine services.
"If you are a for-hire driver, there are certain things in Georgia that's always been expected: background checks, that you have liability insurance, and you're paying your sales taxes," he tells WSB's Sandra Parrish.
Powell says while he has used Uber in the past and supports its business model, he says the state has an obligation to ensure public safety.
"You don't want sex offenders and pedophiles driving out there and picking up the public," he says.
But Keith Radford, general manager of Uber Atlanta, says his company performs even more stringent background checks on all of its drivers than the state requires. In addition, each driver is insured for $1 million in liability coverage per trip, also more than required by the state.
As a compromise in the bill, Powell will allow drivers to either pay a fee to obtain a chauffeur's endorsement through the Department of Driver Services which will perform the background check or require companies send evidence of certification to the DDS within 60 days.
Still, Radford says the new regulations would be the strictest the young company has faced worldwide and could ultimately force it to pull out of Georgia.
"We aren't regulated as a transportation company because we're a mobile application," he says. "Basically the bill would restrict the way we perform our business."
The measure passed out of committee with only one vote in opposition and could be considered by the full House next week.