The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a lawsuit against Uber Technologies Inc. on Monday, accusing the ride-hailing and delivery company of deceptive billing and cancellation practices related to its subscription service, Uber One.
According to the FTC complaint, Uber enrolled some users into the $9.99-per-month service without their consent and made it unreasonably difficult for customers to cancel.
The agency alleged that users were sometimes required to navigate up to 23 screens and take 32 actions to cancel the service.
"Americans are tired of getting signed up for unwanted subscriptions that seem impossible to cancel," FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said in a statement. "The Trump-Vance FTC is fighting back on behalf of the American people."
Uber denied the claims. "We do not sign up or charge consumers without their consent," a company spokesperson said, adding that the cancellation process now takes most users less than 20 seconds.
Uber said it is confident that the courts will uphold its position.
The FTC’s commissioners voted 2-0 in favor of the lawsuit, with Commissioner Mark Meador recusing himself.
The case follows a 2023 Bloomberg report that revealed the FTC had launched an investigation into Uber One’s enrollment and cancellation procedures.
This is not Uber’s first clash with the agency. In 2017, it settled with the FTC over deceptive data privacy claims and paid $20 million in 2018 to resolve allegations of exaggerated driver earnings.
In 2022, Uber avoided criminal charges after admitting it failed to report a 2016 data breach.
Shares of Uber dropped 4.5% to $71.84 in New York following the announcement, with losses extending to 5.3% earlier in the day.
The FTC continues to pursue companies over misleading subscription tactics, with recent actions also targeting Amazon and Adobe.
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