What are Florida's rules for Uber and other ride services?

Florida law calls these services transportation network companies: companies that use an app to connect riders with drivers for rides booked ahead. Section 627.748 of the Florida Statutes governs them statewide. Counties, cities, and airport and port authorities may not add their own taxes, licenses or rate rules for these rides, but airports and seaports may charge reasonable pickup fees and set where riders are picked up.

Before you get in, the app must show the driver's photograph and the car's license plate number, and the company must tell you the fare or how it is figured. You get an electronic receipt after the ride. Drivers may not pick up people who wave them down on the street.

While a driver is carrying a rider, the law requires at least $1 million in liability coverage. While a driver is logged on and waiting for a request, the minimum is $50,000 per person and $100,000 per incident for injury or death and $25,000 for property damage, plus personal injury protection and uninsured motorist coverage.

The company must run a local and national criminal background check on each driver and repeat it every 3 years. It must turn away anyone with a felony conviction in the past 5 years, more than three moving violations in the past 3 years, or a match on the national sex offender website. It must have a zero-tolerance policy on drug and alcohol use and suspend a driver while it looks into a rider's complaint. It must adopt a policy against discriminating against riders and tell its drivers about it, and drivers must follow the laws on service animals.

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