The U.S. authorities sue Uber for user deception
American authorities filed a lawsuit against Uber on Monday, accusing the ride-sharing platform of deceiving its users through promotions for “Uber One” and enrolling them in this service without their consent.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the agency responsible for consumer protection, stated that Uber, headquartered in San Francisco, violated a law governing trust between users of digital services.
The statement quoted Andrew Ferguson, chair of the FTC, saying, “Americans are tired of being subscribed to unwanted subscriptions that seem impossible to cancel.”
He added, “We are not just accusing Uber of deceiving customers about their subscriptions; they are also making the cancellation process unreasonably difficult.”
Under the promotions offered by the company, subscribers to the Uber One service benefit from discounts on rides or on meal deliveries provided through Uber Eats.
The subscription to this service costs about ten dollars a month.
Uber lured users into subscribing to Uber One by promising them savings of 25 dollars a month; however, this promise did not apply to the subscription fees, according to the lawsuit.
According to the FTC, Uber’s promise of monthly savings for users was misleading, and the company made it difficult for its users to cancel their subscriptions to Uber One, despite stating that these subscriptions “can be easily canceled at any time.”
Uber denies enrolling individuals without their consent and asserts that most cancellation requests take less than 20 seconds in the app.
A spokesperson for Uber expressed disappointment to Agence France-Presse, stating, “We are disappointed that the FTC chose to move forward with this action.”
He added, “But we are confident that the courts will agree with what we already know: that the enrollment and cancellation procedures for Uber One are clear, straightforward, and compliant with the letter and spirit of the law.”
