The ride-hailing company giant Uber is set to pay a $25 million settlement deal following a lawsuit filed two years ago on the counts of misleading advertisement and poor background check for the company’s drivers. Although the company states that settlements don’t necessarily claim Uber did something wrong, the ride-hailing company has been under heat over skimpy background checks.
And considering Uber advertised the company’s experience as the gold standard, they may have exaggerated the actual standards for Uber drivers. Los Angeles’ District Attorney Jackie Lacey along with San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon was responsible for taking legal action against the ride-hailing company giant.
The lawsuit filed over two years ago by both San Francisco and Los Angeles’ district attorneys will conclude with a substantial recompense to both DA’s as Uber has agreed to pay $25 million late on Thursday. In the settlement already agreed upon by the ride-hailing company giant with District Attorneys from both San Francisco and Los Angeles, Uber sees eye-to-eye with both DA’s on the deal’s true advertisement matter.
The company agreed to remove phrases such as ‘safest in the road’ from its ads, according to the statement released by Uber. Unfortunately for Uber, their methods to choose their drivers are not able to reach the customer’s expectations, for it represents a greater risk for passengers using Uber.
In spite of this, Uber will now have to pay the consequences for misleading advertisement and posing a greater risk for customers in comparison to what it was promoted. The ride-hailing company, operating at a worldwide range including India and London will have to pay the $10 million fine within 60 days, as agreed upon from both Uber and the District Attorneys from San Francisco and LA.
The company Uber claimed it’s glad the case is now in the past, with the remaining $15 million agreed to the settlement can be waived over the course of two years considering the company stays in line with the demands. And given that the company had the nerve to come out clean and take the settlement deal to avoid further demands, Uber will surely comply with the agreement.
Misleading advertisement indeed
A few months ago a cab driver using Uber went on a violent rampage where several people were killed viciously. The driver had passed the company’s background check as well as the requirements necessary for becoming an Uber driver.
Nevertheless, because Uber doesn’t use fingerprint technology to check the driver’s criminal records, the driver was able to go on a killing spree as he was picking up and dropping off passengers.
Still, the ride-hailing company does make premeditated drivers take a psychological test in order to test the person’s mental health. Although the company didn’t wished for it to happen, the incident made publicly known how risky could be for Uber passengers.
Both District Attorneys Gascon and Lacey also sued Uber’s main competitor Lyft on the same counts as Uber. Although the ride-hailing company rival settled for $500,000 according to Engadget.
Source: Engadget