The Federal Trade Commission sued Uber on Monday, claiming it used “deceptive billing and cancellation practices” to support Uber One, its premium subscription service. The lawsuit is the first filed by the commission against a major tech company since President Trump returned to office.
In the complaint, the F.T.C. said Uber had enrolled some of its customers in the $9.99 monthly subscription service without their consent, misled them on the amount of money that they would save and made it “extremely difficult” to cancel their subscriptions.
The lawsuit is the latest in a string of actions taken by the F.T.C. and the Justice Department to pressure tech giants like Google, Meta and Amazon into changing their business practices. The Justice Department has asked a federal judge to break up Google by forcing the company to sell its Chrome browser, which could cut off a source of information it uses to improve its internet search.
And this month, both Google and Meta have faced accusations in federal court, Google on claims that it acted illegally to maintain a monopoly in online advertising and Meta for buying competitors like Instagram more than a decade ago on its path to dominating the social media industry.
“The Trump-Vance F.T.C. is fighting back on behalf of the American people,” Andrew Ferguson, the agency’s chairman, said in a statement, referring to Vice President JD Vance.
Uber disputed the F.T.C.’s claims that it had used deceptive business practices and misled customers.
“We are disappointed that the F.T.C. chose to move forward with this action,” said Noah Edwardsen, an Uber spokesman. “Uber One’s sign-up and cancellation processes are clear, simple and follow the letter and spirit of the law.”
The Trump administration appears to be barreling ahead with aggressive regulatory treatment of the tech industry, despite open courtship of President Trump by industry leaders.
Uber and its chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, each made a $1 million donation to Mr. Trump’s inauguration fund, along with tech companies like Meta and Amazon and prominent tech executives like Apple’s Tim Cook.
The lawsuit claimed that Uber customers had been wrongly promised savings of $25 a month if they signed up for Uber One, which did not take into account the cost of the subscription. Other customers said they had been billed for the service before their free trial period ended.
The F.T.C. also claimed Uber had violated the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act by making it difficult for customers to cancel their subscription, which included having to navigate “as many as 23 screens and take as many as 32 actions to cancel,” it said.
Uber One has over 30 million subscribers, according to the company’s most recent financial filing, up 60 percent from a year ago. Customers who pay for the service receive credits for rides on the app, waived delivery fees on food orders and exclusive promotional rates on some rides.
