Uber Will Pay $28.5M to Settle Safest Ride Class Action Lawsuit

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

Uber has agreed to pay $28.5 million to settle class action allegations that claim the ride-sharing app company charges customers for a “safe rides fee” which is unnecessary and falsely advertised.

Lead plaintiff Matthew Philliben filed the Uber class action lawsuit over claims that Uber charges customers a $1 fee for what it touts as providing driver background checks that exceed any local or national standard. However, Philliben states that these “background checks” only screen against convictions and not arrests.

Uber customers who used the app to hail a ride at least one time during the class period will receive 82 cents that will be credited back to their Uber account or to wherever their preferred method of payment was.

In addition to financial compensation, Uber has also agreed to stop marketing their services as the “safest ride on the road.” According to the terms of the Uber class action lawsuit settlement, the app company is no longer allowed to make any of the following claims in regards to their background checks:

• Safest ride on the road
• Strictest safety standards possible
• Safest experience on the road
• Best in class safety and accountability
• Safest transportation option
• Background checks that exceed any local or national standard
• Safest possible platform

However, Uber will not remove the fee but rather plans to rename its “safe rides fee” to a “booking fee.”

“We are glad to put these cases behind us, and we will continue to invest in new technology and great customer services so that we can help improve safety in the cities we serve,” Uber stated.

Philliben filed the Uber class action lawsuit in December 2014 and combined with a similar lawsuit filed by Julian Mena in January 2015. Both plaintiffs brought claims of false advertising, unlawful business practices and violations of the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act.

Once the Uber settlement is officially approved, it will be open to all Class Members who used the Uber smartphone app or website to arrange a ride-share service within the U.S. between Jan. 1, 2013 and Jan. 31, 2016. It is estimated that there are roughly 25 million riders that will be considered eligible Class Members.

More information about the Uber safe ride class action lawsuit settlement was not immediately available. Keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter for the latest updates. You can also mark this article as a “Favorite” using your free Top Class Actions account to receive notifications when this article is updated.

The plaintiffs are represented by Mike Arias and Alfredo Torrijos of Arias Sanguinetti Stahle & Torrijos LLP and Steven D. Liddle and Nicholas A. Coulson of Liddle & Dubin PC.

The Uber Safe Rides Fee Class Action Lawsuit Settlement is Matthew Philliben, et al. v. Uber Technologies Inc. et al., Case No. 3:14-cv-05615, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: On June 1, 2017, seeking a federal judge’s approval, Uber upped the amount of money offered to resolve a class action lawsuit regarding its “safe ride” fee to $32.5 million.UPDATE 2: September 2017, the Uber safe rides fee class action settlement is now open.

 Click here to file a claim.