Uber needs regulations in South Carolina and beyond

Holiday time means price-gouging time for Uber drivers, who are unsupervised and unregulated in the State of South Carolina, and this past New Year's Eve was no exception. Under Uber's “Surge Pricing Policy,” drivers can up the prices when Uber cars are in high demand. This means they are free to charge ten times the normal rate without fair warning to the customer.

It works out to be $34.37 minimum fare, $1.29 a minute and $8.49 a mile. Not only were Uber drivers gouging their customers, they were also observed doing fares for cash, which means they were stealing from the owner of the company they work for and pocketing the entire fare without reporting it.

The local taxi companies do not and cannot operate this way. Not only is it unethical, but we are regulated by local and state ordinances. Any taxi that displays a Myrtle Beach medallion can charge at most $2.80 a mile. Besides, the company I work for, Diamond Taxi, offered on New Year's Eve Safe Ride, which is a free ride to anyone who has driven their vehicle to an establishment that serves alcohol, and feels they are unable to safely return home on their own. This is something Uber would never offer under their price gouging policy.

It is time that local and state officials wake up to the menace of Uber, and either kick them out or impose the same rules and regulations that the taxi industry has to abide by.

This story was originally published January 12, 2016 at 8:04 PM with the headline "Uber needs regulations in South Carolina and beyond."