As a regulatory measure to protect the country’s consumers against unfair market practices, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says an Australian court has fined Uber Technologies 21 million Australian Dollars ($14m) for threatening cancellation fees the company never charged, and overstating fare estimates on some rides.
ConsumerConnect learnt the penalty announced Wednesday, December 7, 2022, was below what the competition watchdog had wanted.
The Australian arm of the US ride-sharing app broke consumer law by misleading customers with warnings they would be charged for cancelling some rides from 2017 to 2021 and by using an inaccurate software algorithm to estimate fares for a taxi service it offered until August 2020, the Federal Court ruled.
Related: Uber Agrees To Australia Minimum Pay
Uber said in a post on its Web site that it apologised to Australians “for the mistakes we made, and we have since proactively made changes to our platform based on the concerns raised with us.”
Judge Michael Hugh O’Bryan in a ruling declared that by supplying inaccurate information on its smartphone app, Uber “would be expected to lead a proportion of consumers to alter their decision and not proceed with the cancellation and perhaps deter future cancellations”, while distorting demand for its service, reports Al Jazeera.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which brought the case against Uber, and the tech firm had already agreed on a fine of 26 million Australian dollars ($17.39m), but O’Bryan told the court the evidence provided by both sides was “grossly inadequate”, leaving him to speculate on the extent of harm to consumers.
Featured News
FTC Urged to Enforce Rarely Used Antitrust Law Against Retail Giants
Mar 28, 2024 by
CPI
UK’s Fingleton Bolsters Team with New Additions
Mar 28, 2024 by
CPI
Britain’s Competition Regulator Clears Aviva’s Acquisition of AIG Life UK
Mar 28, 2024 by
CPI
White House Implements New AI Safeguards to Protect Rights and Safety
Mar 28, 2024 by
CPI
Denver Court Sets August Date for Kroger-Albertsons Merger Showdown
Mar 28, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Real Estate & Antitrust
Mar 27, 2024 by
CPI
Systematic National Evidence of Steering by Real Estate Agents
Mar 27, 2024 by
CPI
Compliance Now! Actionable Antitrust Advice for the Residential Real Estate Industry
Mar 27, 2024 by
CPI
Real Estate Commissions: Some Insights from the Economics of Multi-Sided Platforms
Mar 27, 2024 by
CPI
New Ideas for Promoting Real Estate Brokerage Price Competition
Mar 27, 2024 by
CPI