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PSC grants HopSkipDrive waiver allowing alternative fingerprint/background checks for drivers
Summary
The Public Service Commission approved a waiver letting HopSkipDrive use an approved alternative background‑check process where drivers are already fingerprinted by school districts or agencies, with the company required to adopt affidavit commitments and comply with prior waiver conditions for similar transportation network companies.
The Maryland Public Service Commission on Jan. 8 granted HopSkipDrive Inc. a waiver from the statute’s fingerprint‑based background‑check requirement for for‑hire drivers, approving an alternative process when drivers undergo fingerprinting through school districts or contracting agencies.
Staff recommended the waiver as amended and described an alternative background‑check process staff has negotiated with the company. "We recommend the commission grant HopSkipDrive a waiver of the fingerprint based background check and approve an alternative background check process as specified in staff comments," Scott Roper of the PSC transportation division said.
Nicole Hampton, director of regulatory affairs for HopSkipDrive, told the commission the company supports fingerprinting and is seeking to avoid duplicative fingerprint submissions where school districts or other contracting agencies already require state and FBI checks. "This waiver is simply an effort to ensure that drivers don't have to be fingerprinted twice," Hampton said. She said where school or agency processes do not apply, HopSkipDrive will use the PSC's traditional fingerprinting process.
The Office of People’s Counsel initially raised concerns about whether HopSkipDrive had committed to fingerprinting but withdrew those concerns after an updated affidavit was filed; OPC said it did not oppose approval if the commission ordered the company to follow the procedures in the updated affidavit. "OPC withdraws our concerns contingent on the affidavit filed yesterday," Nicole Zeichner of OPC said.
The commission’s motion granted the waiver, directed the company to comply with the conditions listed in the PSC’s prior waiver orders for Lyft and Uber, and added a requirement that HopSkipDrive file notice within 10 business days after the waiver is issued indicating whether it accepts all conditions. The commission also incorporated the company’s updated affidavit as part of the required compliance measures.
Vote: The motion to grant the waiver and adopt staff’s recommended conditions passed unanimously in the administrative meeting: Commissioners Sussman, Barbet and Richards voted aye.
The order requires HopSkipDrive to use fingerprinting where no equivalent school‑ or agency‑run checks occur, to follow the monitoring and reporting conditions described in staff materials, and to notify the commission promptly whether it accepts the conditions attached to the waiver.
