Although Job Rivera only has $342 in Chicago ticket debt, he’s lost the right to drive for Uber.

That’s because Section 54-391 of the Cook County Code of Ordinances allows the city of Chicago to suspend or revoke a person's business license for not paying traffic violations, regardless of the amount they owe.

Rivera is refusing to pay the debt due on principle, even though he has the money to do so.

“I don't like that Uber is enforcing policies that aren’t the law,” he told Flexible Work News. “They are enforcing other people’s policies. That's what I don’t like.”

Rivera received the bad news in a letter from Uber on Sept. 8 that he can’t drive anywhere in the U.S. for Uber until he pays off the ticket debt.

“It’s unfair because I'm living in Indiana, so why won't Uber let me drive in Indiana?” he asked. “The ticket is supposed to be in Chicago. What does that have to do with Indiana?”

The city of Chicago is the only major U.S. city that deactivates gig workers as punishment for their unpaid ticket debts. In 2019 alone, some 15,500 Lyft and Uber drivers were suspended by the city's policy, according to NPR.

“Uber is applying something that is not the law, so I’m not driving for them,” Rivera said. “They should be making money. I made 4,000 trips in just two years with Uber. So they are losing money. Since they suspended me, I don't want to work for them."

Rivera’s tickets are among the more than 3 million automated traffic camera violations issued each year by the city of Chicago, according to ProPublica Illinois.

The cost of a citation ranges from $25 for broken headlights to $250 for drivers who park their cars in disability parking spaces without the proper credentials.

The original amount of Rivera's ticket was $100, he said. “Uber sent me the ticket number. It’s a ticket from 2018, from four years ago. I didn’t even know I had that ticket."

ProPublica 2007 data analysis determined that the city’s low-income, mostly black neighborhoods are disproportionately impacted with the most accumulated ticket debt per adult found in eight of the 10 majority-black Illinois zip codes.

Prior to losing the right to drive for Uber, Rivera was earning more than $1,000 a week driving seven days a week in Chicago, where black neighborhoods make up 40%  all debt, and 22% of all the tickets issued in the city in the past 10 years, according to ProPublica, which indicates how debt acts as an obstacle for the poor.

Fortunately, Rivera can still earn a living with Lyft. “Uber is the one losing money. I have other ways to survive.”

When a Cook County department or agency has decided to deny renewal, suspend or revoke a general business license, a notice and copy is delivered to the applicant, as well as the Department of Revenue. The notice is considered “prima facie,” because it’s legally sufficient to deny issuance, deny renewal or suspend a business license. However, a license can only be suspended, denied or revoked after a license administration hearing is held where the applicant is given seven days' notice. The Director of Revenue may also grant one continuance after a “show of good cause.”

The Cook County Code further allows a business to be immediately closed if its license is denied, suspended or revoked. Although an applicant may appeal the decision of the license administration hearing, filing an appeal will not stop the business from closing down or the license suspension.

If the appeal is denied, the Department of Administrative Hearings administers a notice to the appropriate party saying the decision is upheld. If the appeal is successful, the department will notify the appropriate party and the business license will be reinstated. The Department of Revenue can file an appeal against the Department of Administrative Hearing’s rule with the Circuit Court.

Drivers like Rivera have two options when their license is suspended due to unpaid parking ticket debt.

The City of Chicago website states that drivers can pay all the parking ticket violations and fines in full with checks payable to the City of Chicago Department of Finance, or they may choose to challenge the license suspension by filing an appeal with the secretary of state within 21 days of notice of suspension.

“I have my own business in construction, so I don't mind, honestly. I don't care,” Rivera said.

Editor’s Note: This story is part of an ongoing series covering the impact of government policy on those earning money from the gig economy.