Mayor demands Uber plan to bring drivers into compliance

In this photo illustration, the new smart phone app 'Uber' logo is displayed on a mobile phone next to a taxi on July 1, 2014 in Barcelona, Spain.(Photo Illustration by David Ramos/Getty Images) In this photo illustration, the new smart phone app 'Uber' logo is displayed on a mobile phone next to a taxi on July 1, 2014 in Barcelona, Spain.(Photo Illustration by David Ramos/Getty Images) Photo: David Ramos, Getty Images Photo: David Ramos, Getty Images Image 1 of / 18 Caption Close Mayor demands Uber plan to bring drivers into compliance 1 / 18 Back to Gallery

Mayor Annise Parker has sent Uber a letter demanding the company submit a detailed plan by Friday to bring drivers operating without city permits into compliance, or the company could risk "further steps toward revocation."

The letter comes at a particularly tense time in the city's relationship with Uber. Concerns about the company''s procedures for vetting drivers have intensified in the past two weeks after a driver, Duncan Eric Burton, was charged with sexually assaulting a passenger.

RELATED: Read the mayor's full letter to Uber

Burton was permitted to work via the company's smartphone app even though he never sought a city permit as required, meaning he was not subject to the city's more rigorous background checks.

After the City Council meeting on Wednesday, Parker distributed her page-long letter and warned Uber that the city will continue to target individual drivers with citations and that Uber's permit with the city could be in jeopardy if it doesn't provide a specific plan to bring drivers into compliance.

"Uber likes to pretend that if there are drivers operating without local permits that it's either beyond their control, which is patently absurd, or it's because there's some fault on the part of the city in terms of the permitting process," Parker said. "You can come in and in a day take care of everything."

Parker was responding to a letter from the company's Texas director, Chris Nakutis, last week, saying Uber takes the city's permitting regulations seriously. Parker's letter demands a more substantive response by Friday that specifies what actions the company will take to honor that statement.

"This is unacceptable and creates a substantial risk to the safety of the riding public in Houston," Parker said in her letter.