Uber Agrees to Settle Class-Action Suit Over Safety Claims
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/12/technology/uber-settles-class-action-suit-over-safety-background-checks.html?_r=0
By MIKE ISAACFEB. 11, 2016
Uber has agreed to pay $28.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that took issue with the companys claims that its driver background checks were industry leading.
The terms of the settlement, filed on Thursday in the United States District Court in the Northern District of California, require Uber to pay roughly 25 million riders across the United States and to reword the language around the fee that the company charges for each ride.
Uber will rename the fee, called the safe ride fee, to a booking fee. The ride-hailing company said it would use the fee to cover safety as well as additional operational costs that could arise in the future. Lyft, a main Uber rival, has made a similar change, Uber said.
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If the settlement is approved by the court and accepted by riders, Uber passengers who used the service in the United States between Jan. 1, 2013, and Jan. 31, 2016, will be notified by email and have the option to accept a refund in the form of a rider credit or a charge back to their credit card on file.
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