Ride-sharing service Uber has been found guilty of unfair and deceptive practices and fined $20 million in the US District Court in San Francisco after the Federal Trade Commission filed charges, the USA TODAY reports.
Uber exaggerated and deceived its drivers into believing that each driver could earn over $90,000 annually in New York while those operating in San Francisco could earn over $74,000 every year. But investigations revealed that UberX drivers actually earned $61,000 in New York and $53,000 in San Francisco yearly.
The transport-hailing company also promised its drivers that they could get paid $25 per hour in Boston and $18 in Minneapolis and $25 in Philadelphia. But all these turned out to be false when it was proven that not even up to 10% of the company’s drivers earn as much as advertised in job listings, with many of them expressing disappointments and frustration with their jobs with Uber.
Drivers in another scenario were also deceived into believing that they could own a car with less than $20 repayment daily or less than $17 repayment daily if they leased cars Vehicle Solutions Program which was touted to be low-cost. Over 1,900 drivers enrolled into the program only to find that this is never the case and Uber claimed ignorance of the terms of the vehicle lease or purchase program.
In some dire cases, Uber had advised drivers get in touch with their lenders so as to know the payments for their leased cars, accruals and the amounts owed since the company “does not keep track of this information.”
Uber agreed to pay up $20 million as compensation but never directly admitted to any wrongdoing in the allegations brought against it. It revealed that some of the fine will be used to settle drivers with refunds if they had suffered under the misguided representations made by the ride-sharing company.