Ridesharing Hit with More Business Lawsuits
California prohibits unlawful, unfair, and fraudulent business practices, as well as unfair, deceptive, untrue or misleading advertising. Recently, the district attorney offices for Los Angeles and San Francisco claimed that Uber, one of the the most popular ridesharing companies, violated these California business laws in recently filed actions against the company.
Uber (recently valued at $41 Billion and has backers from Wall Street to Silicon Valley), is no stranger to lawsuits, which are coming from all over the world. In California, the district attorneys’ offices are alleging that Uber misleads consumers about the service’s safety and overcharges them with unnecessary tolls in violation of California consumer protection laws.
According to the lawsuit, Uber claims to be an industry-leader in conducting background checks, but fails to fingerprint its drivers. The district attorneys’ offices claim that without fingerprinting, the company’s criminal checks are “completely worthless.”
The San Francisco district attorneys’ offices also accuse Uber of fraud for charging certain tolls. Uber charges a $4 “airport fee toll,” which is automatically added to rides to and from San Francisco International Airport, even when drivers do not pay a toll themselves. Uber also automatically adds a $1 “safe rides fee” to every ride, claiming that this fee goes to funding the company’s background checks.
The district attorneys’ offices have asked the court for an injunction that will force Uber to stop these practices immediately. They also seek restitution and civil penalties for riders who suffered economic harm from the unnecessary fees.
California law allows a $2,500 penalty to be issued for each violation of the business code. The district attorneys’ offices claim that that are “tens of thousands of violations,” meaning that Uber may be facing a very expensive lawsuit.
Lyft, a competing ridesharing company, who recently raised $700 million, chose to settle a similar lawsuit, agreeing to stop picking up passengers at airports until it obtains the necessary permits and approvals. Lyft will also submit its application to a California testing agency to measure its accuracy in calculating fares.
Ezer Williamson Law provides a wide range of both transactional and litigation services to individuals and businesses. We have successfully prosecuted and defended various types of business, contract, and property claims. Contact us at (310) 277-7747 to see how we can help you with your business law needs
