Uber, Rasier Allegedly Manipulated Navigation Data When Tallying Ride Fares

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Rasier, LLC, Rasier-CA, LLC, and Uber Technologies, Inc. are the defendants in a proposed class action that claims the companies deliberately manipulated navigation data when determining fare amounts paid by users, as well as amounts reported and paid to drivers. The plaintiff, a Los Angeles resident who works as an Uber driver, references the action in the complaint as a “shocking example of an active, extensive, methodical scheme implemented worldwide specifically to defraud drivers.”

At particular issue is Uber’s “upfront” pricing model that calculates a rider’s total fare before the ride even begins. The case claims the upfront model is represented to both riders and drivers as the equivalent of a “fare” determined by a “base fare plus a per-mile and per-minute charge” for the approximate distance of the trip, as well as the time of the ride period. The problem, the lawsuit says, is that the software used to tally the upfront price riders pay bases its calculations on expected distances and times on drivers’ routes that are often longer in distance and time that the one displayed in the driver’s routing application.

According to the plaintiff, herein lies the deception:

“Based on information and belief, the Uber defendants have intentionally designed the Uber Software, particularly the software that calculates the upfront price, to utilize a longer route than the one provided in the driver’s’ application, for the purposed of creating the aforementioned discrepancy,” the case alleges.