Uber accused the company on Monday of charging a waiting fee for a rider with a disability who needed extra time to get in the car for violating Americans with Disabilities Act. I have agreed to settle the proceedings.
According to the Department of Justice, Uber began charging waiting fees for passengers who took more than two minutes to board after their arrival in 2016, according to the Department of Justice. According to the proceedings, these charges were also charged to riders who need extra time to get in the car, such as visually impaired passengers, pedestrians and people with wheelchairs.
Under the terms of the settlement, Uber agrees to exempt riders from proof of disability waiting fees and refund to passengers with disabilities charged for taking too long to get into the car. did.
According to the settlement, Uber said it would pay millions of dollars to compensate the riders. $ 1.7 million was split among more than 1,000 disabled riders who complained about waiting time fees, and $ 500,000 to “other victims” identified by the Justice Ministry. In addition, 65,000 riders enrolled in the exemption program will be compensated for twice the waiting time charge charged.
Kristen Clarke, Assistant Attorney for the Civil Rights Department of the Department of Justice, said, “People with disabilities should not feel like second-class citizens or be punished for their disabilities. This is exactly Uber’s. That’s what the wait rate policy has done. ” In the statement.
In the settlement agreement, Uber denied the Justice Department’s allegations. However, the company is working to improve rider accessibility options, saying that the average rider’s waiting time fee in 2020 will be less than 60 cents.
The company said it has already launched an exemption program codified by the settlement.
“It has long been our policy to refund the waiting time fee when a rider with a disability is warned that he has been charged. All riders who share the disability will wait before this issue is raised. The hourly rate was automatically exempted, “Uber spokesman Noah Edwardsen said in a statement.
