Uber Technologies was fined as much as A$21 million ($14 million) by an Australian court over cancellation charges issues.
The cab aggregator reportedly threatened cancellation fees and overstated fare estimates as well.
Uber Technologies Fined For Extravagant Ride Fares, Cancellation Charges
Uber Technologies Inc. was fined A$21 million ($14 million) by an Australian court on Wednesday for threatening cancellation fees that were never applied and inflating the cost of certain trips.
However, the fine was lower than the regulator desired.
The Federal Court ruled that the Australian division of the American company that created the ride-sharing app violated consumer law by giving customers false notices that they would be charged for cancelling some rides from 2017 to 2021 and by using an erroneous software algorithm to estimate prices for a taxi service it provided until August 2020.
According to a written decision by judge Michael Hugh O’Bryan, Uber “would be expected to lead a proportion of consumers to alter their decision and not proceed with the cancellation and perhaps deter future cancellations” by providing false information on its mobile app, “suppressing demand” for the taxi service.
Although the tech company and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which brought the case against Uber, had already agreed on a fine of A$26 million, O’Bryan told the court that the evidence presented by both parties was “grossly inadequate,” leaving him to contemplate on the harm to customers.
According to the information presented, less than 0.5% of Uber users choose to proceed with a journey despite cancellation costs. Less than 1% of all Uber rides, according to the judge, used the UberTaxi service, which had an algorithm that 89% of the time overestimated the fee.
Uber, Ola Allowed To Charge 5% Extra Over Govt-Approved Fares For Auto
We recently reported that the Karnataka transport department on Friday set new rates for the autorickshaw aggregators across the state.
The transport department has instructed the online app-based aggregators to operate cars at 5% more than the base charge set by the government (Rs. 30 for the first 2 km), plus the relevant tax (5 per cent GST).
The Karnataka High Court has granted aggregators permission to operate at a charge of 10% over the basic price plus any relevant taxes in an interim decision.
The Karnataka government set a minimum charge of Rs 30 for the first two kilometres in 2021. In practise, the aggregators have been charging commuters far more.
