The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing Uber, alleging that the company has charged users for its subscription service, Uber One, without consent and failed to deliver on promised savings.
The suit further alleges that Uber has "deceptive billing and cancellation practices," while maintaining a “cancel anytime” promise.
PhocusWire has reached out to Uber for a statement.
The FTC said Uber’s billing and cancellations policies are in violation of the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA) and the FTC Act.
ROSCA requires online retailers to disclose their terms of service clearly and to get user consent before charging for a service. It also requires businesses to provide an easy way to cancel a recurring subscription.
Subscribe to our newsletter below
“Americans are tired of getting signed up for unwanted subscriptions that seem impossible to cancel,” said Andrew N. Ferguson, chairman of the FTC. “The Trump-Vance FTC is fighting back on behalf of the American people. Today, we’re alleging that Uber not only deceived consumers about their subscriptions but also made it unreasonably difficult for customers to cancel.”
Among the points of issue in its complaint, the FTC said that consumers who signed up for Uber One are falsely told they can save $25 per month and alleged that Uber makes important information about the subscription too difficult to find.
The agency also said that consumers who have signed up were charged for Uber One ahead of their billing date, sometimes before the free trial period closed. Additionally, the FTC said Uber makes it "extremely difficult" to cancel by forcing customers to complete up to go through up to 23 screens and take up to 32 actions to cancel, with road bumps along the way such as lack of customer support.
The case, with the complaint filed in United States District Court for the Northern District of California, will be decided at an unspecified later date.