Uber, the transport company, headquartered in San Francisco, California, is facing a lawsuit after the United States filed a legal case against it. The U.S. Justice Department sued Uber on Wednesday due to alleged overcharging of disabled passengers.
In the lawsuit, the US asked a federal court to order the ride-hailing company to follow the laws that protect people with disabilities from discrimination. As per Reuters, it was the Justice Department that filed the suit in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco this week.
The case looks into the Uber policy that was implemented in April 2016 where it requires extra charges for passengers that the company calls "wait time fees." This was initially followed in some cities until it was expanded and covered all states across the country.
This policy was said to be a discrimination against disabled people and violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. The suit stated that those with disabilities such as the blind and those with wheelchairs naturally need more time to get into the Uber vehicle so the policy is unfair for them.
"People with disabilities deserve equal access to all areas of community life, including the private transportation services provided by companies like Uber," Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for the DOJ's civil rights division, said in a statement. "This lawsuit seeks to bring Uber into compliance with the mandate of the Americans with Disabilities Act while sending a powerful message that Uber cannot penalize passengers with disabilities simply because they need more time to get into a car."
The Justice Department simply wants the court to instruct Uber to revise its wait time fee policy and to pay damages to people who were subjected to illegal fees. The New York Times further reported that while Uber may know that disabled passengers may require at least a few minutes to get into the vehicle, it did not revise its policy to exclude the disabled for its waiting fee policy and charged them instead.
Finally, in response to the lawsuit, Uber said it has been in talks with the DOJ regarding the said rule. The company said it was only intended for riders who kept drivers waiting and not for those who needed extra time to get into the vehicle. Uber said it had refunded passengers with disabilities who informed the company about the charge.


Apple Challenges India Antitrust Probe, Says CCI Copied Rivals’ Claims in App Store Case
Gold Price Hits Annual Low as Fed Rate Hike Bets and Sticky Inflation Weigh on Bullion
Apple Eyes Chinese Memory Chips as AI Shortage Pressures iPhone Supply Chain
SK Holdings, KKR Launch $1.3B Renewable Energy Venture in South Korea
TSMC CoWoS Capacity Forecast Raised as Mizuho Sees AI Server CPU Demand Surging Through 2027
Turkey Vehicle Sales Fall 11.4% in June as Auto Market Weakens
South Korean Stocks Tumble as AI Chip Selloff Hits Asian Markets
Meta Stock Jumps as AI Cloud Expansion Challenges AWS, Microsoft, and Google
Chip Stocks Rally as Samsung and SK Hynix’s $1.3 Trillion Investment Plan Boosts AI Optimism
Asian Stocks End Strong Quarter as Dollar Surges, Yen Hits 40-Year Low Ahead of US Jobs Data
ShareChat Eyes 2027 IPO After Reaching Operational Profitability, Report Says
South32 Sells Major Aluminium Assets to Alcoa in Deal Worth Up to $5.6 Billion
NATO Albania Summit Faces Uncertainty as Trump, Defense Spending Concerns Loom
Japan Signals Surprise Yen Intervention Strategy as BOJ Hawkish Stance Puts FX Traders on Alert
US Jobs Report Preview: June Payroll Growth Seen Slowing as Fed Rate Decision Looms
Gold Price Drops to Eight-Month Low as Fed Rate Hike Bets Weigh on Bullion. Source: Photo by Michael Steinberg via Pexels 



