Uber admits misleading Australian riders and agrees to pay £15m fine

Uber has agreed to pay a fine for misleading riders by falsely warning they could be charged a cancellation fee and for inflating estimates of what a taxi would cost for the same journey, Australia’s consumer watchdog said (Nam Y. Huh/AP)

Uber has agreed to pay a 26 million Australian dollar (£15 million) fine for misleading riders by falsely warning they could be charged a cancellation fee and for inflating estimates of comparable taxi rides, the ride share company and Australia’s consumer watchdog said.

Uber BV, a Netherlands subsidiary of the San Francisco-based Uber Technologies, admitted breaching Australian Consumer Law by making false or misleading statements in its app, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said in a statement.