California Governor Jerry Brown’s administration has abruptly retracted a Department of Motor Vehicles regulation that created tighter rules for ride-hailing services like Lyft and Uber.
The DMV announced the rule earlier this month. It stated that drivers who earn a profit using their private cars to transport people must register those cars as commercial vehicles.
But the Brown administration revoked that regulation late Friday night after media reports earlier in the day prompted a backlash.
“We jumped the gun, and we shouldn’t have,” said DMV Director Jean Shiomoto in a statement. “The matter requires further review and analysis which the department is undertaking immediately.”
Last year, after months of negotiations with ride-hailing companies and the taxicab industry, lawmakers passed and Gov. Brown signed legislation that requires ride-hailing service drivers to obtain stronger auto insurance coverage starting this July.
Here's the DMV's original regulation issued earlier this month and rescinded late Friday:
