Feds accuse Uber of charging customers for subscriptions without consent

The Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit Monday against Uber, alleging the ride-hail and delivery giant charged customers for its Uber One subscription service without their consent. The lawsuit also claims Uber failed to deliver the savings promised in its subscription service and made it unreasonably difficult for users to cancel despite its “cancel anytime” promises.

Uber has denied any wrongdoing and accused the FTC of rushing the investigation process and basing its claims on “unvetted allegations.”

The lawsuit comes after the FTC has pushed companies with subscription services to make them easier to cancel under its previous director Lina Khan. In October 2024, the agency finalized its “click to cancel” rule that requires companies to make canceling a subscription as easy as signing up for one. Despite facing some challenges by industry groups, the rule is expected to go into effect May 14.

“Americans are tired of getting signed up for unwanted subscriptions that seem impossible to cancel,” FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said in a statement. “The Trump-Vance FTC is fighting back on behalf of the American people.”

The FTC’s complaint, which follows an investigation that began last year, alleges that Uber customers are wrongly promised savings of $25 a month.

“Even if that were true, Uber does not account for the cost of the subscription (up to $9.99/month) when calculating those savings,” reads a statement from the FTC. “The company also obscures material information about the subscription (for example, by using small, greyed out text which consumers can easily miss).”

The complaint accuses Uber of automatically charging consumers who signed up for a free trial before their billing date. It also alleges that Uber makes it “extremely difficult” for customers to cancel, wherein users can be forced to navigate “as many as 23 screens and take as many as 32 actions to cancel.” Those actions come in the form of explaining why they want to cancel, dealing with Uber urging them to pause their membership, and if that fails, presenting offers to stay.

“Some users are told they have to contact customer support to cancel but are given no way to contact them; others claim that Uber charged them for another billing cycle after they requested cancellation and were waiting to hear back from customer support,” reads the FTC’s statement.

Uber clarified that previously, customers who wanted to cancel within 48 hours of their sign up date had to contact customer support to cancel. The company says that is no longer the case. TechCrunch has reached out to learn when Uber updated its policy to allow those customers to cancel within the app.

The plaintiffs are pushing the court to prohibit Uber from continuing its alleged deceptive practices and to force the company to pay monetary relief.

“We are disappointed that the FTC chose to move forward with this action, but are confident that the courts will agree with what we already know: Uber One’s sign-up and cancellation processes are clear, simple, and follow the letter and spirit of the law,” an Uber spokesperson said in a statement. “Uber does not sign up or charge consumers without their consent, and cancellations can now be done anytime in-app and take most people 20 seconds or less.”

Tim Muris, a former FTC chair who represented Uber during the case’s investigation period, accused the FTC of failing to do a full investigation and basing its complaint on “misunderstandings of both the facts and the law.”

Uber’s current outside counsel, Christine Wilson, said, “The unconventional nature of the rushed investigative process that preceded this enforcement action was compounded by the addition of new and unvetted allegations at the last minute. It is disappointing to see the FTC stray from the rigor and fairness that has long defined the agency at its best.”

Uber One’s member base reached 30 million across 34 countries in 2024, and the company says it is growing roughly 60% year-over-year. A year ago, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi estimated that Uber One’s membership fees would be “in excess of $1 billion” in 2024.