Uber admits it ‘misled’ millions of Australians with cancellation warning in ACCC fight

Uber could face a mammoth fine after it admitted misleading millions of Australian users through “free cancellation” warnings.

Uber could face a huge fine after it admitted misleading millions of Australian users through “free cancellation” warnings.

The admission came after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission sued the rideshare app, with proceedings playing out in the Federal Court.

Both parties made submissions for a $26m fine to be imposed.

The ACCC alleged that from December 2017 to September 2021 users were shown a misleading warning if they attempted to cancel a trip.

Uber misled customers. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jenny Evans

“You may be charged a small fee since your driver is already on their way,” the warning read.

However, the message did not make clear users were still in the app’s five-minute free cancellation window.

ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said more than two million Australians were misled by the warning.

“Uber admits it misled Australian users for a number of years and may have caused some of them to decide not to cancel their ride after receiving the cancellation warning even though they were entitled to cancel, free of charge, under Uber’s own policy,” she said.

Uber was also accused of falsely representing the fare for “Uber Taxi” fares, which was available to Sydney users from 2013 until August 2020.

The algorithm used to calculate the estimated fare range inflated estimates so the actual taxi fare was almost always lower than that range.

In September 2021, Uber amended its cancellation messaging for Uber services across Australia to “You won’t be charged a cancellation fee” if users seek to cancel during the free cancellation period.

Originally published as Uber admits it ‘misled’ millions of Australians with cancellation warning in ACCC fight