If you are an Uber or Lyft driver over in San Francisco, be prepared to “invest” an additional $91 each year, as that is the amount required for one to register for a business permit. This comes into play if one would like to continue to make a living from giving and sharing rides, and City Treasurer Jose Cisneros has already started to send out letters to 37,018 drivers in the city so that they are well informed of the new requirement.
It remained unknown as to how Cisneros managed to obtain the names of the Uber and Lyft drivers, and how he decided to go ahead and enforce a new rule. It was noted, however, that the city has already informed both of these ride-sharing companies that should they not want to recognize their drivers as employees, then they would need them to obtain business permits in order to function as contractors.
Assuming each driver applies for one business permit at $91 a year, the city would be $3.37 million richer in the corresponding time, at least for the drivers who make $100,000 or less in gross receipts. Employees or contractors? The debate rages on, and hopefully the honest, hardworking men and women in the middle would still be able to eke out a decent living.