Well that was fast. It’s been less than a week since uberX—Uber’s new, more cost-efficient venture—launched, and already the D.C. Taxicab Commission is pointing fingers at it, crying foul.

UberX, which aims to directly compete with lower-cost taxicabs (even sporting the tagline “better than a taxi for the same price”), operates basically the same as regular Uber, except that it uses mid-sized, hybrid cars instead of luxury sedans or town cars. This brings the base fare down to just $5, with an additional $2.50 per mile—quite the competition to taxicab rates.

But, since launching last week, uberX has already taken heat from the D.C. Taxicab Commission, which claims that the mid-sized vehicles Uber is using for uberX do not comply with current sedan regulations.

As WAMU reports, D.C. Taxicab Commission spokesman Neville Waters says that Uber is operating outside the law with their newest operation:

“If those vehicles were used for this service, that would be essentially having an unregulated vehicle running against a taxi that is regulated. It just simply doesn’t make any sense,” said Neville Waters, a spokesman for the D.C. Taxicab Commission.

The hybrid vehicles used by uberX drivers technically are not taxis because they do not have fare meters. Waters says the vehicles fail to meet the size requirements for sedans, too, so they are not eligible for the L Tag registration for limousines and sedans licensed in D.C.

And Ron Linton, chairman of the commission, told DCist that in Uber’s announcement of uberX, “They listed a number of vehicles that they said they would use in the service, and they said that they had to have L tags,” or the legal registration for a limousine or sedan
to operate as such. But “the vehicles that we saw listed do not qualify for L tags. They don’t meet the regulations,” Linton added.

However, Uber’s D.C. general manager Rachel Holt tells DCist that uberX is, in fact, adhering to all current Commission regulations and laws. “The reality is we don’t launch products that aren’t legal,” Holt says. “We do our homework, we read the local regulations, we read the local laws, and the products that we launch are legal.”

The main issue that the D.C. Taxicab Commission has with the vehicles Uber is using for uberX—which includes Toyota Camry hybrids and similarly sized hybrid cars—is that they’re operating them under an L Tag registration—the proper registration for authorized limousines and sedans in the District—and that those vehicles aren’t technically qualified to fall under the category of a sedan.

But Uber isn’t wrong here. The problem is that the definition of a Sedan isn’t exactly clearly defined in the current Taxicab Commission regulations. In Title 31, Chapter 12 of the current regulations, it states the definition of a sedan as “a for-hire vehicle designed to carry fewer than six (6) passengers, excluding the driver, which charges for service on the basis of time and mileage.”

Nothing about the size of the vehicle is mentioned, as Waters had previously told WAMU. Still, Linton insists that the vehicles uberX is using don’t meet regulation. And that’s because the commission is currently taking a look at those definitions in Title 31, with new proposals submitted for vote and approval on August 19th.

Taxicab Commission general counsel Jacques Lerner told DCist that the new proposals “have very specific definitions for both what is a luxury car in general—that would include both limousines and sedans—and then subset of that that’s just sedans.” And the definition of a Sedan in the commission’s new proposal is defined as:

a public vehicle-for-hire that: (a) Meets the requirements for a luxury class vehicle; (b) Is not an SUV; (c) Is not stretched; (d) Is any “dark” color other than 15-1150 TCX, 15-1150 TPX, 16-035 TCX, or 16-035 TPX, or any “black” color, as defined by Pantone LLC ; and (e) Has a passenger volume of at least ninety five (95) cubic feet, according to the EPA.

Obviously, this would present a real problem for the continuation of uberX, which Holt says has been “on fire” since launching last Thursday. But Holt remains optimistic that uberX’s success will continue. “Fundamentally, we are launching products that are compliant, that follow regulations, that are good for consumers and good for drivers,” Holt says. “There’s been more demand for more options and increasingly affordable options. I think it’s for these reasons that it’s taking off and will continue to.”