Uber To Pay Millions To 65K People With Disabilities Charged Wait Fees

SAN FRANCISCO — Uber will pay millions to more than 65,000 people with disabilities who were wrongly charged wait-time fees for needing more time to get into the car under a settlement with the Justice Department.

Federal authorities said in a lawsuit that Uber violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and that users were charged discriminatory fees due to their disability. The Justice Department sued Uber in November, accusing the company of violating Title III of the act, which bans private transportation companies from discrimination. The settlement was announced Monday.

Uber began charging passengers wait time fees in numerous cities beginning in April 2016 and expanded the policy nationwide. Wait time fees began two minutes after the Uber car arrived at the pickup location, and continued charging until the car began its trip. Federal authorities said Uber violated the ADA by failing to reasonably modify the fees for passengers with disabilities who needed more than two minutes to get into the car.

Passengers who use a wheelchair or walker would need the mobility devices broken down and stored in the car. Blind passengers would need more time to safely walk from the pickup location to the car itself. Authorities said in the lawsuit that even when the company knew passengers’ needed additional time, it charged wait-time fees at the two-minute mark.

Under the two-year settlement, Uber promised to waive wait time fees for riders who certify that they or someone they frequently travel with need more time to get into the car due to a disability. Uber also pledged to ensure that refunds are easily available for people who do not have a waiver and are charged wait-time fees due to disability.

More than 65,000 eligible riders will receive account credits. The users all signed up for the waiver program for double the amount of wait time fees they were ever charged, which could amount to potentially hundreds of thousands — or millions — of dollars in compensation, authorities said.

Uber must also pay $1.7 million to more than 1,000 riders who complained about being charged wait time fees because of disability, and $500,000 to other people wrongly charged the fees, who were identified by authorities.

“People with disabilities should not be made to feel like second-class citizens or punished because of their disability, which is exactly what Uber’s wait time fee policy did,” Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a statement. “This agreement sends a strong message that Uber and other ridesharing companies will be held accountable if their services discriminate against people with disabilities."