A political watchdog group filed a complaint Friday asking the Colorado secretary of state to investigate allegations that Yellow Cab offered its drivers up to $110 to illegally lobby state lawmakers to kill a taxi deregulation bill this week.

"If these allegations are true, Yellow Cab has brazenly ignored Colorado's lobbying laws and, even worse, induced its drivers to commit criminal acts," said Chantell Taylor, director of Colorado Citizens for Ethics in Government.

The allegation is that Yellow Cab lured cabbies into becoming unregistered lobbyists, a misdemeanor with a maximum punishment of a year in jail and a $5,000 fine.

Denver Yellow Cab President Brad Whittle said the accusation "is just politics" and that drivers weren't paid. He said drivers were encouraged to make calls against the bill.

Whittle called the timing of the allegation "suspect." A Yellow Cab driver made the pay-for-lobbying allegation reported in the Rocky Mountain News Thursday - just as the House Transportation and Energy Committee voted on the taxi deregulation measure, House Bill 1114.