If you want to drive for Uber, Lyft, or any other rideshare platform in Illinois, the rules you have to follow come mainly from the Transportation Network Providers Act (625 ILCS 57/). Illinois rideshare laws set a minimum driver age of 19, require a background check with specific disqualifiers, mandate insurance that scales up the moment you accept a ride, require visible trade dress on your car, and prohibit refusing passengers on protected grounds. Chicago adds its own surcharges, and two state privacy laws reach the data the companies collect about you.
Who Can Drive
Before the app will activate for you, the rideshare company has to collect your legal name, Social Security number, address, date of birth, driver’s license information, driving history, vehicle registration, and proof of auto insurance.1Justia. Illinois Compiled Statutes 625 ILCS 57 – Transportation Network Providers Act It then runs a local and national criminal background check against a multi-state criminal records database and the National Sex Offenders Registry, plus a driving history report.
The statute names the things that will keep you off the platform:
- More than three moving violations in the past three years, or one major violation such as reckless driving, evading police, or driving on a suspended or revoked license.
- Any conviction within the past seven years for driving under the influence, fraud, a sexual offense, using a vehicle to commit a felony, property damage, theft, violence, or terrorism.
- Any match on the National Sex Offenders Registry, no matter how old.
- No valid driver’s license. It doesn’t have to be an Illinois license.
- Being under 19. The minimum is 19, not 21.
- No current proof of insurance or registration.
Submitting a false or incomplete application is a petty offense under Illinois law.1Justia. Illinois Compiled Statutes 625 ILCS 57 – Transportation Network Providers Act
Your Rights When They Run the Background Check
Because the rideshare company is using a third-party screening report, the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act applies. The company has to tell you in writing it plans to pull a background report and get your written permission first. If the report turns up something that could disqualify you, the company must give you a copy and enough time to challenge errors before making a final decision. If they reject you based on the report, they have to send you a notice saying so.2Federal Trade Commission. Background Checks on Prospective Employees – Keep Required Disclosures Simple Screening databases often carry outdated or wrong records, so if you get bounced, read the report before you walk away.
Your Vehicle and the Trade Dress Requirement
Illinois law requires proof of registration but does not set a vehicle age limit and does not require an annual inspection by a certified mechanic.1Justia. Illinois Compiled Statutes 625 ILCS 57 – Transportation Network Providers Act Uber and Lyft impose their own standards on top, usually a 15-model-year cap that varies by market. Those company rules will keep you off the app even where the statute wouldn’t.
What the statute does require is trade dress. Any car being used on the platform has to display a consistent, distinctive sign or emblem whenever you are logged in or carrying a passenger. It needs to be readable from 50 feet in daylight, and it has to include an illuminated company logo or trademark visible in the dark. Magnetic or removable trade dress is allowed, so you aren’t advertising when you’re off duty.3Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 625 ILCS 57 – Transportation Network Providers Act
Insurance Changes Mid-Shift
The coverage you must carry depends on what you’re doing at that moment, and the two tiers are very different.
App On, No Ride Accepted
From the moment you log into the app until you accept a request, you have to carry at least $50,000 in liability coverage for death and bodily injury per person, $100,000 per incident, and $25,000 for property damage. Your personal auto policy can satisfy this, but only if it doesn’t exclude rideshare driving. If your personal policy falls short or excludes the activity, the rideshare company must maintain contingent coverage to fill the gap.1Justia. Illinois Compiled Statutes 625 ILCS 57 – Transportation Network Providers Act
Ride Accepted Through Dropoff
The second you accept a ride request, the required liability coverage jumps to $1,000,000 for death, bodily injury, and property damage. That obligation runs until the ride ends or you close the trip in the app, whichever is later. The coverage can come from your own policy, the rideshare company’s policy, or a combination.1Justia. Illinois Compiled Statutes 625 ILCS 57 – Transportation Network Providers Act
Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage of at least $50,000 must also be in force from the time a passenger gets in until they get out. The insurer providing the Phase 2 coverage has a full duty to defend and indemnify you, and that duty cannot be made contingent on your personal insurer denying a claim first.1Justia. Illinois Compiled Statutes 625 ILCS 57 – Transportation Network Providers Act
The Collision Gap
None of the above covers damage to your own car. Rideshare companies typically offer contingent collision and comprehensive coverage while you’re en route to a pickup or on a trip, but only if you already carry those coverages on your personal policy. Uber’s version pays repairs up to the vehicle’s actual cash value with a $2,500 deductible.4Uber. Insurance for Rideshare and Delivery Drivers That deductible is on you every time, which is why many full-time drivers add a rideshare endorsement to their personal policy. Without an endorsement, if your personal policy excludes rideshare use, a fender-bender during Phase 1 could leave you paying for all vehicle damage yourself.
How You Have to Treat Passengers
Rideshare companies must adopt and communicate a nondiscrimination policy covering destination, race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, and gender identity, and drivers have to follow it.5Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 625 ILCS 57-20 – Nondiscrimination, Accessibility The destination piece matters: you cannot refuse a ride because the dropoff is in a neighborhood you’d rather avoid. If a local government forbids licensed drivers from discriminating against underserved areas, TNC drivers in that jurisdiction are held to the same standard.
You cannot charge extra for serving a person with a physical disability. The platform has to let riders request a wheelchair-accessible vehicle, and when none is available, it has to point them to an alternative provider of accessible transportation if one exists. You must also follow all applicable service animal laws, which means no refusing a passenger with a guide dog or other service animal.5Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 625 ILCS 57-20 – Nondiscrimination, Accessibility
Zero Tolerance for Drugs and Alcohol
The statute requires every rideshare company to maintain a zero tolerance policy for drivers operating under the influence. When a passenger files a complaint alleging a violation, the company must immediately suspend your access to the platform and investigate, and the suspension lasts for the entire investigation.3Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 625 ILCS 57 – Transportation Network Providers Act A single complaint can take you off the road with no warning, which is why many experienced drivers run a dashcam that records both the road and the cabin.
Chicago Congestion Surcharges
If you drive in Chicago, there’s an extra wrinkle. Effective January 6, 2026, the city imposes congestion zone surcharges on rides with a pickup or dropoff in designated zones between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. Single rides carry a $1.50 surcharge per vehicle per ride; shared rides on weekdays in the same hours carry a $0.60 surcharge.6City of Chicago. BACP TNP Congestion Zone Boundaries Subject to Surcharge Notice The surcharges are added to passenger fares, so expect price-sensitive riders in the downtown core during peak hours.
Privacy Rules That Reach You as a Driver
The Biometric Information Privacy Act (740 ILCS 14/) applies to any private entity that collects biometric identifiers such as fingerprints or facial geometry. If a rideshare company uses facial recognition to verify your identity before a shift, BIPA governs it. Before collecting the data, the company has to tell you in writing that a biometric identifier is being collected, explain the specific purpose and how long it will be stored, and get your written release. It also has to publish a retention schedule and destruction guidelines. Biometric data must be destroyed when the original purpose is satisfied or within three years of your last interaction with the company, whichever comes first.7Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 740 ILCS 14-15 – Biometric Information Privacy Act
BIPA carries statutory damages of $1,000 per negligent violation and up to $5,000 per intentional or reckless violation, plus attorney’s fees. If a rideshare company has had you scan your face without ever giving you written disclosure or asking for written consent, you may have a BIPA claim.
The Illinois Personal Information Protection Act (815 ILCS 530/) is the breach-notification law. It requires any entity holding personal data about Illinois residents, including driver’s license numbers, Social Security numbers, financial account credentials, and biometric data, to notify affected individuals after a breach.8Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 815 ILCS 530 – Personal Information Protection Act If your rideshare company gets breached, you should receive notice.
Taxes You Owe as an Independent Contractor
Rideshare drivers in Illinois are independent contractors for tax purposes. Nobody withholds income tax or payroll tax from your earnings, and both are on you. Self-employment tax runs 15.3 percent of net earnings for Social Security and Medicare, on top of regular income tax.
If you expect to owe $1,000 or more for the year, the IRS wants quarterly estimated payments on April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15 of the following year. Missing a deadline triggers an underpayment penalty with interest, so most full-time drivers set aside 25 to 30 percent of net income as they earn it.9Internal Revenue Service. Manage Taxes for Your Gig Work
Vehicle expenses are the biggest deduction most drivers take. The IRS standard mileage rate for 2026 is 72.5 cents per mile for business use.10Internal Revenue Service. IRS Sets 2026 Business Standard Mileage Rate at 72.5 Cents per Mile You can use that flat rate or calculate actual expenses for gas, insurance, repairs, and depreciation. If you own the vehicle, you must take the standard mileage rate in the first year it’s available for business use; after that, you can switch to actual expenses in later years. If you lease, you have to stick with your first choice for the whole lease. Track every business mile from the moment the app goes on, including the deadhead miles between rides. They count.
The 2028 Sunset
The Transportation Network Providers Act is currently scheduled to be repealed on September 1, 2028, so the legislature will need to reauthorize or replace it before then.1Justia. Illinois Compiled Statutes 625 ILCS 57 – Transportation Network Providers Act Reauthorizations often change the rules, so watch for amendments as that date approaches.