With regulations passed last week, UberTaxi will disappear on June 1. Additionally, the next set of regulations, just 3 weeks from passage, will ban fuel efficient vehicles from UberBlack, require Uber to hand over massive amount of ridership data, and require Uber’s app to go through a yearly approval process just to exist. These regulations are unprecedented and far more restrictive than Uber has seen in any of the 30 cities that we operate in.

- Tell Mayor Gray to keep UberTAXI on the road!

- Tell Mayor Gray there will be no snooping on Uber’s trip data!

- Tell Mayor Gray to stop burdening DC tech startups with anti-consumer, anti-innovation regulations!

Here are the details:

December 2012’s legislation, unanimously passed by the DC Council and signed by the Mayor, put specific limits on the power of the DCTC in order to ensure that an unelected regulator could not shut down innovative technologies like Uber.

Unfortunately, it seems that the DCTC has chosen to ignore both the letter and the spirit of the law with their latest set of regulations. Of course, some of the new rules are a step forward, but Mayor Gray’s DCTC appointee has also included and passed certain regulations that do the District’s transportation options significant harm.

So what do these regulations do?



- Block DC residents from making digital payments for DC taxis using services like Uber as of June 1. This will affect several hundred of DC’s Uber Taxi drivers who each stand to lose more than $500 a week in additional income.

- Require Uber to hand over data about every ride you take on UberBLACK to the DC Taxicab Commission.

- Ban the Toyota Prius and other fuel-efficient vehicles from UberBLACK.

- Require yearly DCTC approval of the Uber iPhone app, where the DCTC can unilaterally prevent the Uber app from operating in the District.

The Uber team worked hard to prevent having to post this. We participated in public hearings and authored multiple rounds of public comments. We clearly voiced our concerns. But in the end regulations were passed last week that will eliminate our popular TAXI product with many more damaging sedan regulations on the way.

Take Action:

Uber faithful, it’s time to make your voices heard and show your #UberDCLove. Tell the Mayor that you want DC to be a technology capital, and that you want and deserve seamless taxi payments, fuel efficient sedan vehicles, and trip privacy. Tell the Mayor that in order to make DC a tech capital he has to stop anti-consumer, anti-innovation regulations that are unparalleled anywhere in the country.

Thanks for your support and let’s keep the #UberDCLove alive.