PITTSBURGH -- In a contested decision, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission levied an $11.4 million fine on Uber Technologies Inc. for operating for six months in 2014 without permission and for ignoring multiple requests for information.
The penalty, approved in a 3-2 vote at the commission's public meeting Thursday in Harrisburg, is by far the largest fine ever issued by utility regulators but substantially less than the proposed fine of $50 million recommended by administrative law judges in November.
During discussion about the penalty, Commissioner John Coleman Jr. said the fine was fitting for the San Francisco-based ride-share company's violations, which include operating in the state from February to August 2014 before receiving an experimental license from the commission.
He called Uber's actions "the most unprecedented series of willful violations in the history of this agency."