Uber Pays Millions to Settle Lawsuit Over Wait-Time Fees for Riders With Disabilities

pcmag.com:

Uber this week agreed to pay millions to settle a lawsuit that accused the rideshare firm of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by charging wait-time fees to riders with disabilities who needed extra time to get to their cars.

More than 65,000 users will receive compensation(Opens in a new window) after being charged wait-time fees for taking more than two minutes to enter an Uber car, despite needing additional time for, say, breaking down and storing a wheelchair or walker.

Uber in 2016 began charging customers in certain locations a per-minute penalty if the driver was left waiting for more than two minutes at the pick-up location. But the complaint(Opens in a new window), filed in November by the Department of Justice, claims Uber violated the ADA by failing to "reasonably" modify its wait-time fee—even when it was aware of a passenger's need for additional time.

"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," Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, 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."

As part of the two-year agreement, Uber will waive wait-time fees for all riders who certify that they, or someone they frequently travel with, require more time to get into a car because of a disability. The company also plans to advertise the waiver program, train customer service representatives, and refund users who are illegally charged.

Additionally, the accounts of more than