Currrent as of February 4, 2022
Assembly Bill No. 2494
An act to add Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 16560) to Part 1 of Division 7 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to business.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST
AB 2494, as amended, Acosta. Delivery network companies.
Existing law authorizes the legislative body of an incorporated city and a county board of supervisors to license businesses carried on within their respective jurisdictions and to set licensing fees for those businesses. Existing law prohibits a local jurisdiction that requires a driver to obtain a business license to operate as a driver for a transportation network company, as defined, from requiring that driver to obtain more than a single business license regardless of the number of local jurisdictions in which the driver operates, as specified.
This bill would prohibit a local jurisdiction that requires a driver, as defined, to obtain a business license to operate as a driver for a delivery network company, as defined, from requiring that driver to obtain more than a single business license, as specified, regardless of the number of local jurisdictions in which the driver operates as a driver for a delivery network company. The bill would require a driver for a delivery network company to obtain a business license in the local jurisdiction in which the driver is domiciled, except as specified. The bill would require each delivery network company to notify its drivers of the obligations set forth in these provisions. The bill would prohibit personally identifiable information, as defined, submitted to a local jurisdiction for purposes of complying with or enforcing these licensing provisions from being disclosed on a publicly accessible Internet Web site. The bill would declare that its provisions do not preclude the sharing of business license data among local jurisdictions and would make a finding that allowing the free operation of drivers for delivery network companies across local jurisdictions is a matter of statewide concern.
Vote: majority Appropriation: no Fiscal Committee: no Local Program: no
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1.
Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 16560) is added to Part 1 of Division 7 of the Business and Professions Code, to read:
CHAPTER 8. Delivery Network Company Drivers: Business Licenses
16560.
It is the intent of the Legislature to limit any requirement for a business license imposed by a local jurisdiction on a participating driver for a delivery network company to a single business license, regardless of the number of local jurisdictions in which the participating driver operates as a driver for a delivery network company.
16560.1.
For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:
(a) “Business license” includes any license, certificate, fee, or equivalent payment that is required or collected by a local jurisdiction annually, or on some other fixed cycle, as a condition of providing prearranged delivery services in the local jurisdiction.
(b) “Driver” means any person who uses a vehicle in connection with a delivery network company’s online-enabled application or platform to connect with consumers.
(c) “Local jurisdiction” means a city, county, or city and county, including charter cities.
(d) “Personally identifiable information” means individually identifiable information about an individual driver collected by the local jurisdiction from that individual, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(1) A first and last name.
(2) A residential address, including a street and city name.
(3) An email address.
(4) A telephone number.
(5) A social security number.
(6) Driver income or tax information.
(e) “Delivery network company” means an organization, including, but not limited to, a corporation, limited liability company, partnership, sole proprietor, or any other entity, operating in California that provides, arranges, or in any way facilitates prearranged delivery as an act of enrichment, financial or otherwise, of goods or services using an online-enabled application or platform to connect consumers with goods or service and to have those goods or services delivered directly to the consumer.
16560.2.
(a) A local jurisdiction that requires a driver to obtain a business license to operate as a driver for a delivery network company shall only require that driver to obtain a single business license, regardless of the number of local jurisdictions in which the driver operates as a driver for a delivery network company.
(b) A driver for a delivery network company shall obtain a business license in the local jurisdiction in which the driver is domiciled. If the local jurisdiction does not require a business license to operate as a driver for a delivery network company, the driver shall not be required to obtain a business license for any other jurisdiction.
(c) A local jurisdiction shall not require a driver for a delivery network company to obtain a business license if either of the following applies:
(1) The driver is compliant with subdivision (b).
(2) The driver has not operated as a driver for more than 30 days in the preceding fiscal year.
(d) Each delivery network company shall notify its drivers of the obligations set forth in this chapter.
(e) Notwithstanding any other law, a business license issued to a driver for a delivery network company by a local jurisdiction pursuant to this chapter shall be valid for the period of time determined by the local jurisdiction by law or regulation, except that the local jurisdiction shall not require a driver to obtain a business license that applies for a period before January 1, 2019, or that imposes any penalty or fee on a driver related to the driver’s failure to obtain a business license for providing delivery network services for a period before January 1, 2019.
(f) Personally identifiable information submitted to a local jurisdiction pursuant to this chapter shall not be disclosed on a publicly accessible Internet Web site.
(g) This chapter does not preclude the sharing of business license data among local jurisdictions.
(h) The Legislature finds and declares that allowing the free operation of drivers for delivery network companies across local jurisdictions is a matter of statewide concern and is not a municipal affair as that term is used in subdivision (a) of Section 5 of Article XI of the California Constitution.
Delivery Network Company