- Legal Business Minds
- Posts
- Uber Faces FTC Consumer Protection Investigation 🚘
Uber Faces FTC Consumer Protection Investigation 🚘

Uber Faces FTC Consumer Protection Investigation 🚘

Hey there! 👋
Uber is under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission over its Uber One subscription plan, which is raising some serious consumer protection concerns.
Let’s explore what happened, how this affects consumers, and how a law firm could be involved.
Don't have time for the full scoop? No worries, head over to our Instagram for a quick scoop - click here
What did Uber do? 🤷♀️
The investigation into Uber centres around their Uber One subscription plan. Consumers have alleged that Uber automatically signs people up for their plan without their consent and makes it difficult to cancel their subscriptions.
Uber defends itself by claiming the unsubscribing process takes "20 seconds or less," but consumers disagree. Some have found that if they are 48 hours into their new billing cycle, they cannot just press a few buttons to unsubscribe. They need to directly contact Uber support, which is a time-consuming process.
In October 2024, the FTC created a new rule called “click to cancel”. This means that consumers should be able to cancel their subscriptions just as easily as they signed up. This protects consumers from having to deal with issues when unsubscribing and protects them from being financially exploited via recurring payments. Uber allegedly went against this FTC rule by signing up consumers without their knowledge and then not allowing consumers an easy way to cancel their subscriptions.
FTC: The FTC (US Federal Trade Commission) is an independent agency of the US government with the aim to promote consumer protection and prevent businesses from using anti-competitive behaviour.
Why is this a problem? 😤
When companies like Uber make cancelling subscriptions difficult, they effectively trap consumers in services they no longer want or need. This forces people to continue paying for an unwanted service. Creating such complex cancellation processes, like requiring contacting customer service, exploits consumers, as many people will simply give up trying to cancel.
Furthermore, it also affects competition, as competitors who are using ethical and transparent practices will be disadvantaged. Uber is allegedly using these measures to maintain their high position in the market. This stops new businesses from entering the market. This leads to a lack of growth and diversity in the market.
How could law firms be involved? ⚖️
Uber’s legal team will be trying to convince the FTC that their practices do not violate consumer protection laws. This will influence other businesses to make sure that they are fully transparent about subscription plans.
Cooperating with the FTC may mean they have to update current subscription policies to ensure the terms are explicitly clear and make sure that the unsubscribing procedures are just “click to cancel”.
🗞 Other news…
Assisted Dying Bill advances in UK Parliament 🏛
MPs have voted 330 to 275 in favour of proposals to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales. While the motion passed, significant hurdles remain before euthanasia becomes law. If passed, the UK would become the 6th country to permit assisted dying since 2015.
Barclays slapped with £40 million fine 💰
Barclays has been fined £40 million by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for its controversial financial crisis fundraising practices. The bank failed to disclose key details about a funding deal with Qatari investors, which involved paying millions in undisclosed fees. The FCA described Barclays' behaviour as "reckless" and lacking integrity.
I hope you enjoyed this article. See you next week! 👋
Written by Tara Dave