Massachusetts slaps toughest Uber, Lyft screenings in US

BOSTON (AP) – Drivers for ridehailing companies Uber and Lyft will undergo what state officials call the most comprehensive background checks in the US under agreements announced Monday by Gov. Charlie Baker's administration.

The screenings will begin on Jan. 6, with both companies guaranteeing that every driver on the road will have passed a thorough state criminal background check by April 3, according to the separately negotiated deals. The timetable, officials said, is about a year ahead of the schedule contemplated under a law approved this year by the Democratic-controlled Legislature and signed by the Republican governor.

The new Massachusetts protocols establish a "national standard'' for screening those who drive for the ridehailing firms, Baker said.

"With the signing of these agreements, consumers who take advantage of the innovative technology services provided by transportation network companies can have confidence that the driver has undergone a thorough background check that includes both criminal and driving records,'' Baker added, using another term to describe companies such as Uber and Lyft.

The criminal background checks, to be conducted by a newly created division of the Department of Public Utilities, will include verification that the driver is not a registered sex offender. The companies will be required to perform twice annual checks of driving records.

While the agreements announced Monday were termed voluntary, the law that established the state's first operating rules for ride-hailing firms envisioned the two-tiered driver screening system, with one check performed by the company and the other by the state.

The law does not mandate that drivers be fingerprinted. Boston cabbies, who are fingerprinted under city rules, sharply criticized the omission of a fingerprinting requirement for the app-based services.