California authorities have sent warning letters to Uber, Sidecar and Lyft to say that their new carpool features are illegal, CNET reported on Friday.
Sidecar said Thursday that it received a letter from the California Public Utilities Commission, which said the ridesharing service was breaking the law by testing its new Shared Rides, or carpool, feature.
A Lyft spokesperson said that it also received a similar letter. Initially, Uber said that it didn't get the letter, but now the ride-sharing company says it was indeed contacted by the CPUC. The CPUC also confirmed that it sent two copies of the letter to Uber - one to company CEO Travis Kalanick and one to Chairman Garrett Camp - on September 8.
"Uber recently announced its intent to offer a new transportation service known as UberPool," the CPUC letter states. "Uber has not yet approached the Commission regarding the UberPool service... Uber's proposed transportation service violates existing California law."
The CPUC says that, according to California law, it's against the law for these ride-sharing services to charge passengers an individual fare when carrying multiple people in one vehicle. The companies would first have to request an adjustment to their existing permits with the CPUC or petition the state legislature to modify the law if they would like to offer a carpool service.
Uber, Lyft and Sidecar all announced carpool features last month. The three companies say the feature lets strangers in multiple locations, but heading the same direction, share rides and split fares - saving passengers up to 50 percent each ride. Uber's service is dubbed UberPool, while Lyft's is called Lyft Line and Sidecar's is named Shared Rides.
