Pennsylvania PUC releases report on Uber’s driver background check process

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) recently released its report on Uber’s driver background check process in Pennsylvania as well as Uber’s implementation plan and directed the company to proceed with several recommendations to strengthen its background check process.

The PUC voted 5-0 to release the PUC report and implementation plan of Rasier-PA LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Uber Technologies Inc.

The report includes seven major recommendations for improvements regarding background checks and rider safety. Uber’s implementation plan, which was submitted following completion of the review, fully or partially accepts all if the PUC recommendations and describes how the company will address them moving forward.

The PUC review included a study of the driver onboarding process; driver background check practices; driver and rider complaint handling practices; contracts and service agreements established with Rasier-PA’s background check provider; performance metrics and safety statistics; rider and driver mobile in-app safety features; upcoming safety initiatives and other related issues.

The PUC recommended that Uber strengthen its background check process and continuous monitoring features; redesign its Safety Toolkit icon allowing for quicker and easier identification; explore ways to decrease the level of insufficient information in the complaint investigation process; partner with all transportation market participants to explore the development of a database to readily identify deactivated users to supplement the driver background check monitoring process; complete the development and implementation of key safety related initiatives; reevaluate tracked performance metrics and establish goals for critical metrics; and formalize business process and procedure documentation.