FTC hits Uber with lawsuit over billing for Uber One

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is taking aim at Uber’s Uber One subscription service in a new lawsuit filed against the ride-hailing company. 

The agency announced Monday it filed a lawsuit against Uber, claiming the company broke the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA) through “deceptive billing and cancellation practices” with Uber One.

The lawsuit asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to issue a permanent injunction to “prevent future violations” of those laws as well as grant monetary and “other relief.” 

Uber “charged consumers for its Uber One subscription service without their consent, failed to deliver promised savings, and made it difficult for users to cancel the service despite its ‘cancel anytime’ promises,” the FTC claimed in a press release announcing the suit. 

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In the lawsuit, the FTC said consumers “have complained that they have been enrolled in an Uber One subscription without their consent, reporting that they never signed up and have no idea why they were being charged.”

Some customers using Uber One’s free trial period were hit with charges “before the stated billing date, during the free trial period,” the FTC alleged. 

Uber One carries a $9.99 per month ($99.99 if purchased for a year) price tag. Subscribers get benefits such as zero delivery fees on orders over the minimum subtotal and earning Uber Credits on rides.

The FTC alleged in the complaint that Uber “has instituted a cancellation process that is difficult, time-consuming, and far from simple” for Uber One, saying subscribers must click through and scroll numerous screens before they can do so. 

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Some Uber One subscribers “claim that Uber charged them for another billing cycle after they requested cancellation and were waiting to hear back from customer support,” the agency claimed.

The agency also took issue with Uber saying consumers could save $25 per month by enrolling in Uber One. It argued in its press release that the company “does not account for the cost of the subscription.” 

An Uber spokesperson told FOX Business the company was “disappointed that the FTC chose to move forward with this action, but are confident that the courts will agree with what we already know: Uber One’s sign-up and cancellation processes are clear, simple, and follow the letter and spirit of the law.” 

“Uber does not sign up or charge consumers without their consent, and cancellations can now be done anytime in-app and take most people about 20 seconds or less,” the spokesperson said.

Tim Muris, a Sidley lawyer who represented Uber during the investigatory period of the case, also said he was “disappointed that the FTC chose to bring this case without a full investigation and to base its complaint on misunderstandings of both the facts and the law.” 

Uber first debuted the Uber One membership program in late 2021. 

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In early February, when the company reported its fourth-quarter financial results, Uber said the member base for Uber One, which is available in nearly three dozen countries, had hit 30 million. 

CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said during that earnings call it was a “stellar few months for Uber One membership, where we added 5 million members in the quarter, bringing out total member base to 30 million, up nearly 60% year-on-year.”