The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against Uber for overcharging disabled persons

Uber is being sued by the US Justice Department for allegedly overcharging disabled individuals.

The Department of Justice contends that Uber’s “wait time” costs are unfair to disabled passengers who take longer than two minutes to get into a car.

According to the document (ADA), Uber must comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

On the other hand, Uber, said that the wait time costs were not meant for disabled riders and that it has been refunding them. The lawsuit aims to convey a “strong message that Uber cannot penalise passengers with disabilities merely because they require extra time to get into a car,” according to Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice’s civil rights division.

She went on to say that Uber and other transportation firms “must ensure equal access for all people, including those with impairments.”

Uber denied that its policies were in violation of the ADA. A representative said the corporation had been in talks with the Department of Justice before the surprising and disappointing complaint.

When Uber had a policy of refunding disabled clients’ wait time fees if they informed the company that they had been charged.

In 2016, Uber began charging riders for driver wait times.

According to the company, users are charged an average of less than 60 cents for each journey, with no wait time costs applied by default to wheelchair-accessible or Uber Assist rides.

It’s not the first time Uber has been chastised for its disability policies.

It was forced to pay a blind woman in San Francisco $1.1 million in April after she was denied rides 14 times. Jack Hunter-Spivey, a paralympic medalist from the United Kingdom, alleged in September that Uber and other cab drivers often drove away when they realised he was in a wheelchair.

According to a 2020 study by the University of Tennessee, a disabled person in the United States requires 28% more income than a non-disabled person to achieve the same standard of living.