Massachusetts auditor: Uber, Lyft drivers allowed to operate under ‘much looser standards’ than state protections mandate

Authorities routinely “failed to conduct proper oversight” allowing Uber and Lyft drivers to operate under “much looser standards” than state law mandates, an auditor’s report found.

The 39-page report by Auditor Suzanne Bump’s office found that the Transportation Network Company Division of the Department of Public Utilities did not follow its own regulations in its oversight of Uber and Lyft over a two-year period.

The report raises questions about checks and balances erected to ensure the health and safety of riders relying on the apps.

“The division was created by the Legislature to regulate this emerging industry and was directed to create regulations and to hold the TNC’s accountable for the safety of the public. Instead, even after it adopted its regulations, the division allowed the TNC’s to operate under much looser standards for a significant period of time and failed to conduct proper oversight,” Bump said.

But Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration shot back. Craig Gilvarg, a spokesperson for the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs that houses the DPU, said the state has on its books “the most stringent background check requirements for rideshare drivers in the United States.”

State regulations require app-based ride companies to review drivers’ criminal and driving history and to conduct a national background check for each contractor at least twice a year. Another DPU program monitors criminal records for registered drivers in real time.

But Bump’s report points to issues with the use of background checks in 2017 and 2018. She found the DPU division performed only one of the seven required quarterly audits of national background record check information that Uber and Lyft maintain.

That gap means the office in charge of regulating Uber and Lyft “cannot be certain that all the TNCs’ rideshare drivers are qualified to work for them,” auditors wrote.

“Delays in quarterly audits could allow unsuitable drivers to provide rideshare services, increasing risks to riders,” the report said.

The audit also found that rideshare applicants did not always pass national background record checks. Of the 53 drivers sampled during the audit, two rideshare driver applications contained incidents that should have precluded the applicants from passing a national background record check. Of 58 rideshare drivers reviewed, there was inadequate documentation for 20 drivers to determine if the TNC had conducted a national background check as required to be performed every six months.

Herald wire services contributed to this report.