Ride-sharing giant Uber Technologies has agreed to a $20 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission to settle claims it misled prospective drivers by making bloated claims about earning potential and ran a deceptive vehicle lending and leasing program. The $20 million settlement will go toward refunding affected drivers, the FTC said in a statement on January 19.
Uber’s mobile-app-based ride-hailing service basically turns anyone who can pass a basic background test into a smartphone-summoned cabdriver. Uber drivers use their own vehicles, however, and those cars and trucks are required to meet certain standards.
Own or Lease on the Cheap
Of course, not everyone owns his or her own ride, let alone one that is clean and in decent working order, so Uber hatched the idea of working with subprime auto lenders and dealers for what it calls a Vehicle Solutions Program. The FTC?s complaint said the Uber program promised to connect car buyers or lessees with cheap loans or leases, and some 5000 drivers signed up for the program from November 2013 to April 2015. With the program, Uber said, its drivers could own a car for as little as $20 a day or about $140 per week or lease a car for as low as $17 a day or $119 per week. The FTC said the median weekly payment wound up being more than $160 a week for loans and more than $200 per week for leases.
Uber also promised ?unlimited mileage? on the vehicles, but the FTC said there was no basis for such a claim and the ...