The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed a lawsuit against Uber Technologies, alleging that the rideshare and delivery company has used ‘deceptive’ billing and cancellation practices in its Uber One subscription service. The consumer protection agency claims Uber charged customers for its Uber One subscription without their consent, and misled them about the program's savings. Further, the lawsuit also accused the company of making it ‘unreasonably’ burdensome to cancel the service.
Unauthorised enrollment in subscription service
Uber launched its Uber One subscription service in 2021, providing users with perks like free delivery and discounts on select rides and orders. The service can be availed at $9.99 (about Rs 825) per month, and the company claims customers save $25 (about Rs 2,090) with this plan. However, according to the lawsuit filed in San Francisco by the FTC, Uber signed up customers for this service without their knowledge. Surprisingly, the complaint also includes a case where a customer was charged despite not having an Uber account.
The FTC's complaint also claims that suspending or cancelling these subscriptions is quite difficult for consumers, who may have to click as many as 23 screens and do about 32 actions to opt out of this subscription. However, Uber has denied these claims, and a representative of the company stated, “Cancellations can now be done anytime in-app and take most people 20 seconds or less."
The company has also confirmed that earlier Uber consumers had to contact its support to cancel Uber One if they were within 48 hours of their renewal period. However, Uber has since changed this policy, and users can now opt out of the Uber One subscription from within the app.
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